Photo Courtesy of Steve Starer, Flickr Creative Commons
As the NFL reaches the halfway point of the season, fans are constantly being reminded that the game of football often delivers debilitating injuries to its players. This season, the New York Giants have not been strangers to injury woes.
Wide receiver Victor Cruz is looking at one of the toughest injuries to come back from, suffering from a torn patellar tendon in his right knee on Oct. 12 against Philadelphia. While Cruz will be out for the rest of the season, he told nj.com that he has no doubt that he will play for the Giants next season and did not suffer a career-ending injury.
“I don’t have any doubt in my mind. I don’t have any doubt that I’ll be back,” Cruz said in a conference call with reporters on Oct. 17. “I don’t have any doubt that my rehab process will be successful and I’ll be in tip-top shape and ready to go when the time is right.”
Cruz is coming off a less than stellar 2013 campaign in which he was projected to finish in the top 10 among wide receivers, but he instead finished somewhere in the bottom 50 percent.
Rookie wide receiver and first round pick Odell Beckham Jr. has been given a bigger role by coach Tom Coughlin in Cruz’s absence. Beckham has stepped into his new role quite nicely for now, but it is still early. He shows flashes of athletic dominance at times and remains a player with a huge upside who is worth keeping an eye on.
Another player who is making up for the Giants’ injury woes is middle linebacker Jon Beason. His career is just starting to come alive after spending a few years of poor play in North Carolina. The Giants offered him a contract worth $7 million. He’s a leader through both his play and motivation.
However, Beason was placed on the Giants’ injured reserve, effectively ending his season with an injury to his right foot that caused him to miss three games in the beginning of the season. The Giants will turn to veteran Jameel McClain, a former middle linebacker for the Ravens.
The Giants will be forced to continue on regardless of injuries, and will work to turn the season around and make a push for the playoffs after going 3-4 in their first seven games.
sdarian@ramapo.edu
