The Giants got a major scare from receiver Victor Cruz on Sunday night. For that reason, don’t expect to see Cruz again this preseason.
Per Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record, Cruz won’t play until the September 8 opener against the Cowboys, on Sunday Night Football.
Technically, Cruz has a heel contusion. He has been placed in a walking boot for now, and he won’t practice on Tuesday. While it could have been worse, missing practice is bad enough in the eyes of the man who famously called injuries a “cancer” when hired nine years ago.
“The concern is any player that misses practices is missing the opportunity to experience things and instinctively react to things,” Coughlin told reporters, via Stapleton. “That’s what you worry about with any player who misses time and misses practices because you don’t get the opportunity through repetition to learn in the multiplicity of things that can happen on any given play. It’s important for everyone to understand that. It is about being able to practice, it is about getting as many reps as you can so you become much more aware of the circumstances surrounding each situation.”
The circumstances for Cruz are better than initially feared; even if he doesn’t practice until the week before the game at Dallas, Coughlin should be happy that the so-called cancer of injury didn’t claim the season of one of the best slot receivers in the game.