For the first time since signing with the New York Giants in March, veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph was spotted running routes on Sunday.
Rudolph joined quarterback Daniel Jones on the field for warmups prior to a Week 2 preseason game against the Cleveland Browns and caught a few passes. It was a promising development for a player who remains on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.
Kyle Rudolph, who remains on PUP as he recovers from foot surgery, ran routes and caught passes from Daniel Jones pregame. First time I’ve seen Rudolph do that. I expect his workload to be ramped up this week pic.twitter.com/c9m5FzqNF1
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) August 22, 2021
Rudolph’s situation has been an odd one. The team discovered a foot injury requiring surgery during his physical but opted to honor their agreement and sign him anyway. The veteran later promised not to miss any football this season, but is coming dangerously close to doing just that.
But the crisis may ultimately be averted.
Following a 17-13 loss to the Browns, head coach Joe Judge offered an optimistic update on Rudolph and even implied he may be activated from PUP in the near future.
“He had a good week this week at rehab. When I talked to him with the medical team, it’s optimistic that there may be a chance coming up to get off [the PUP list],” Judge told reporters. “Again, that is an individual basis so we will see what the medical team says on that and see if we can get him out there with the team working.”
Rudolph must be activated from PUP by the time the Giants trim their roster down to 53 men, which comes little more than a week from now. If he remains sidelined at that time, he will stay on PUP for the first six weeks of the season.
