Victor Cruz did not catch a pass, and he barely saw any passes thrown his way, but his comeback reached a milestone moment on Wednesday.
That’s when Cruz first took reps against another opponent, running routes against Bengals defenders in Big Blue’s final joint practice of the week. In the shadow of Paul Brown Stadium, Cruz took part in 11-on-11 and seven-on-seven drills, his most strenuous live action of this summer.
“It felt good,” Cruz said. “I was out there, running around a little bit. Everything felt kind of similar to what I had hoped. I felt good in and out of breaks and getting open.”
It was the latest step in Cruz’s so-far solid recovery from the torn patellar tendon he suffered in his right knee last October. Cruz has been running routes and playing against Giants defenders throughout training camp, and he’s yet to have any issues with his rebuilt knee. He hasn’t missed a day of practice, and he doesn’t even wear — or plan to wear — a brace this season.
It appears that Cruz will be ready to play Week 1. He's not going to get the same number of targets given Odell Beckham's emergence as a top-flight wideout. Cruz will likely play the Randall Cobb role in OC Ben McAdoo's offense, so there is some upside if his explosiveness is still there.
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