Victor Cruz on Thursday cleared the final hurdle on his way to fulfilling the timeline that has been his goal all offseason: a return to action for the start of training camp.
The wide receiver passed his medical and conditioning tests when he and the rest of the Giants reported to camp, and he is expected to take part in Friday's first practice of the season. After missing all of last season with a calf injury that required surgery and most of the previous season with a torn patellar tendon, Cruz likely will not be a full participant in the workout. The Giants were exceedingly cautious with him in the spring and are expected to ease Cruz back into action. But the fact that he passed the first inspection and is not starting camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list is a bit positive and a huge step for him.
Cruz may be cleared, but three others will start camp on PUP. Defensive tackle Damon Harrison (knee), linebacker J.T. Thomas (hamstring) and defensive tackle Jay Bromley (ankle) received the designation and did not participate in the conditioning test. They are free to come off PUP and rejoin the team at any point in the preseason, and Ben McAdoo said the expectation is that they will do just that quickly. "We don't think any of them are extremely serious at this point," he said.
McAdoo said Harrison's knee was swollen, possibly from new training routines in the offseason that aggravated old surgical procedures. Whatever the cause, the Giants are not overly concerned about being without one of their main free-agent acquisitions for the start of camp.
Sure, they may have to start without Snacks, but they could get a little salsa.
