Victor Cruz inching closer to return from injury

Giants wideout Victor Cruz spoke to the media on Tuesday, and while he noted he’s “feeling better,” he had to douse any expectations of possibly playing on Thursday night.

Even with the release of Preston Parker, and the lackluster play of any wideout not named Odell Beckham Jr., the Giants are taking a slow and steady pace for their forgotten franchise receiver.

Cruz, who put in some work today – just not on the practice field – said he’s making progress on his injured calf.

“It felt good today. Felt good to be on the grass a little bit, get out there and run around a little bit. Today was the first day I ran on the ground. Other than chasing [daughter] Kennedy around the house, today was the first day I ran on the grass,” he said, adding it’ll basically take a miracle to see him on the field against Washington. “You never know what could happen. You always just want to go out there and perform, make sure you’re good to go for whatever week is upcoming. But, obviously the short week leaves you a little handicapped, if you will. But we’ll see. We’ll see how it continues to progress, how I feel in the morning, and we’ll go from there. … I’m closer. There’s no pain in there anymore, so it’s just a matter of getting the confidence back to running on it and cutting on it, things like that.”

The Giants have been hit with the injury bug. And with those mounting numbers, head coach Tom Coughlin noted there may be some familiar names that may also be held out of action.

Linebacker Jon Beason has been battling knee issues for weeks, and while he practiced on Tuesday, there’s no telling if he’ll be ready.

One thing is certain, though, whether he plays or not, he’s not too happy with the way the schedule has worked out for Big Blue.

“Me personally, you decide to throw another football game into a week, it shows they [league office] don’t really care about the players,” said Beason. “That’s just how I feel. I know how I feel on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday [after a Sunday game], so to think you have to play a game on Thursday, it’s tough.”

If Beason can’t go, he reasoned that his fill-in, Uani’ Unga, has been a very good replacement. Unga leads the team in total tackles (17) and solos (11), and is second on passes defended with two.

The former BYU Cougar has impressed the coaching staff with his instincts and game speed and has showed a level headedness that is likely aided by his age, 27, despite only being in his second season.

“If I can’t go, the good thing is we have Uani’ and we feel great about what he’s been doing,” said Beason. “Our overall corps has been good. We have guys who can step in and play well. We’ll need that against Washington.”