New York Giants

Giants WRs Beckham, Cruz avoid PUP list, expected to practice

Published Jul. 30, 2015 9:46 p.m. ET

foxsports

The best news out of New York Giants' training camp on Thursday came at the wide receiver position. Both Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr. have avoided the dreaded PUP list, and they are both expected to participate in the Giants' first practice.

Make sure you don't go penciling in Cruz with the first-team offense during 11-on-11 team drills in Friday's practice. The Giants will most likely ease him back into action. It's a long camp.

"I'm sure we'll have to limit him and build him up, but he will be out there," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said to reporters, per Big Blue Interactive.

Cruz has been working out intensely and running without pads on, but he acknowledges that getting into game shape is a different animal. Getting in training-camp shape requires a different kind of endurance, according to Cruz.

"You can run hundreds [and] you can run sprints all the time but when you have pads on, you are running routes, you are stopping, you are starting, you are sprinting and you’re going, so that is a little bit different endurance that plays a part when you are out there on the field so I still have to develop that little by little and take it one day at a time," Cruz said.

Cruz estimated to reporters that he is currently "93 percent healthy," and he expects to be 100-percent healthy in Week 1 of the regular season.

The Giants have their first team practice on Friday, so reporters obviously wanted to know if Cruz will be out there and what we can expect to see.

"I expect to be with the team at some point, probably getting some reps," Cruz said. "I haven’t talked to the training staff about how we are going about the periods. We talked about my workload and what they want me to do workload-wise, but nothing as far as what periods I will be in and what periods I won’t."

Cruz wasn't the only Giant who had a good day on Thursday. Beckham passed the Giants' conditioning test with flying colors after missing most of the team's spring practices. It turns out the team's decision to have him sit out was truly a precaution. You can exhale now, Giants fans.

Just like with Cruz, Coughlin plans to limit Beckham's practice reps at first. While Cruz will most likely be limited to individual drills at first, Beckham is expected to take some snaps in team drills.

(h/t Big Blue Interactive)