Victor Cruz spent yet another day running on the side during practice, but Ben McAdoo said this may be the end of those exercises.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he could go tomorrow," McAdoo said on Thursday. "Maybe the first practice back after Buffalo. We'll see how it goes."
Of course, McAdoo said earlier in the week that he was "hopeful" Cruz would practice on Wednesday, and he did not.
The Giants do not have an official practice on Friday, just a jog-through in the morning before traveling to Buffalo for Saturday's preseason game. Their first practice after that game is not until Tuesday, so that will give Cruz almost another full week to recover from the groin injury that has sidelined him since he felt discomfort in an Aug. 9 workout.
Cruz has not played in a game since October 2014 when he tore his patellar tendon in Philadelphia. He injured his calf in training camp last year, which cost him the entire 2015 season. This summer he was trying to come back from those injuries and was making good progress until the groin injury came about.
Cruz jogged across the field and did some light cutting on Thursday. Until then he had only been running in a straight line. He spent most of the practice watching with the other wide receivers. The Giants need to see Cruz on the field to evaluate whether he can contribute to the team this season.
"Just trying to keep him positive, keep him in the mix of what's going on," Eli Manning said of his interactions with Cruz. "Hopefully he can get back soon and we can get back to work."
Manning was asked if he thinks Cruz will play for the Giants this season.
"No reason not to," he said. "Hopefully he can get back, get back to practice, get rolling and have a good year."
