Victor Cruz to have calf surgery; Giants career could be over
Victor Cruz #80 of the New York Giants looks on from the sidelines in the first half against the San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015 in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Victor Cruz's much-heralded return will not take place this year. And there is some doubt that it ever will.
The Giants wide receiver announced Monday morning that he will require season-ending surgery on his left calf. He made the announcement in a video through the website Uninterrupted.
"This hurts, mainly because I worked so hard to come back from the patellar tendon surgery," Cruz said in the video. "I felt like I was back to 100 percent and then the calf happens. It's a tough thing to go through. Tough thing emotionally, physically."
Cruz did seem prepared to overcome that patellar tendon tear he suffered in a game against the Eagles last October. He was a participant in early training camp practices and looked sharp. But on Aug. 17, he suffered a calf injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the preseason and beyond.
He tried to return to practice from the calf injury Sept. 30 but could not make it through early drills. He received two platelet-rich plasma injections since then.
The Giants hoped Cruz would be back for the stretch run, but when he did some route-running Saturday with trainers, he reinjured the muscle.
"It's a tough time for me, tough time for my family, tough time for all of us, because we were so excited about coming back and being a part of something special this year and being a special player individually," Cruz said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't do that this year because of my calf injury."
There is no timetable for the surgery or the recovery. Even if he does make it back, Cruz will have missed almost two full seasons of action, which is hard for anyone to overcome.
"Who knows?" general manager Jerry Reese said Monday. "When you are gone for a few years like that, you can't just jump back in and play, I don't think. You have to build your way back up . . . I don't think it's an easy road back. We'll see where that goes."
Cruz, 29, has three years remaining on his contract with the Giants and is due to earn a base salary of $7.9 million in 2016 and $15.8 million combined in 2017 and 2018. The Giants most likely will renegotiate that contract for a lower base salary or cut him and allow him to sign elsewhere as a free agent. The team would save $6.1 million against the salary cap if they cut him this upcoming offseason. Reese said Cruz's contract will "take care of itself."
Reese said that when Cruz suffered the Sept. 30 setback, the team discussed putting him on injured reserve with a designation to return, which would have freed up a roster spot. Instead, the medical staff told Reese that Cruz likely would not miss more than eight weeks and the team should wait it out.
Reese, who called the calf injury "more bizarre" and this "the year of the calf" after safety Nat Berhe also required calf surgery, said in hindsight, the team should have put Cruz on IR earlier.
"It's unfortunate," Eli Manning said. "He worked so hard to come back from the knee injury last year. To have this nagging calf injury, I know it's been tough on him."
Cruz said he will "retool" his brain and his body to deal with overcoming this injury. He said he is excited for the challenge. He said he has become "addicted" to the process of returning at 100 percent and wants to "really attack this thing and really come out the other end firing."
"I hope you guys don't lose faith in me," he said at the end of the video, "because I haven't lost faith in myself."
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
