New York Giants

Giants teammates could tell Cruz was 'not quite ready' at practice

Published Sep. 30, 2015 4:51 p.m. ET

foxsports

The long awaited return of New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will be put on hold again. Cruz cut his first practice back from a calf injury short, and it was obvious to his teammates that something wasn't right.

"You could see a little limp in him when he tried to turn up and run and we could tell that he wasn't quite ready to play full speed," Giants wide receiver Rueben Randle said to reporters, per Tom Rock of Newsday. "We were trying to tell him, 'Don't stress it too much.' He's anxious to get back and we didn't want him to hurt it any worse than it is and have him out even longer.

"It sucks, to say the least," Randle added.

Cruz is likely feeling a lot of pressure to make his return to the field, but his teammates want to make sure he understands the pressure is not coming from them. Having gone through injuries at times in his career, cornerback Prince Amukamara offered some wise words on how Cruz should approach his injured calf.

"I told him that it's a long, long season and just forget the pressure," Prince Amukamara said. "When you're injured and much is expected of you there is a lot of pressure on you. I told him forget about that and keep his head up."

For now, the Giants will continue on with Dwayne Harris as the No. 3 wide receiver behind Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle. The Giants could look to get running back Shane Vereen more involved in the passing game, over the middle of the field, if they continue to struggle with production from the slot wide receiver position.