National Football League

Reese: Victor Cruz is close to 90 percent now, doing great

Published May. 5, 2015 8:58 a.m. ET

foxsports

For the first time this offseason, New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese shared an optimistic take on wide receiver Victor Cruz. In a Monday interview with Mike Francesa of WFAN, Reese provided a thorough update on Cruz's recovery from a torn patellar tendon in his right knee that was suffered back in October.

“We think Victor is going to come back at 100 percent,” said Reese. “He’s doing really great.”

“We feel really good about Victor, he’s working hard every day,” said Reese. “I was down there watching him work out a couple of days before the draft. He’s excited, he’s jumping up on boxes as tall as he is, almost, so he must be doing pretty good for me. We think he’s probably 85, close to 90 percent right now, but they’re taking him at a snail’s pace just so he won’t have any setbacks.

Cruz's biggest tests will come with exercises like the box jump and others that test his explosion and agility. Cruz wins in the short and intermediate areas of the field with his ability to separate from coverage. He can separate so seamlessly because he has natural quick twitch ability and lateral agility. These are the two traits that some doctors have claimed are the toughest to recover from after suffering a torn patellar tendon.

From what he's seen, it doesn't sound like Reese is worried at all anymore.

“We expect him to walk out in Dallas (on opening day) and play for us," said Reese.

The Giants will take their time with Cruz's recovery, as they should, so we don't get a real idea of his status until late August.

(h/t CBS New York)

Photo Credit: Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports