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"Victor Cruz beats Terrel Thomas pretty easily".

 

Can't decide whether that's a DOH for Thomas, or a hell yeah for Cruz. Although it did look like Thomas gave up on the play. Meh, pre-season I guess.

 

I think we need to cut Sinorice and keep Cruz, Cruz might not be a bad option on returns either,with Hixon waived we should have a roster spot for a reciever or return specialist

 

Undrafted rookie wide receiver Victor Cruz turning heads at Giants' training camp

 

Published: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 8:15 AM Updated: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 8:22 AM

userpic-787-100x100.pngMike Garafolo/The Star-Ledger cruz081210jpg-5cad10f48a0e9c03_large.jpgNoah K. Murray/ The Star-LedgerVictor Cruz, signed as an undrafted free agent in the offseason, snags in a pass at Giants' training camp.

ALBANY, N.Y. — It might seem that the worst thing for an NFL rookie would be to be yelled at or corrected by an NFL coach. But for wide receiver Victor Cruz, there's something worse after coming back from a route. Something he often heard during the Giants' spring practices.

 

Silence.

 

"If you come back and nobody wants to talk to you, it's like, 'Uh, did I do it right?'" the Paterson native said in between training-camp practices yesterday. "You get a little scared."

 

After a couple of impressive days here, the undrafted free agent is starting to hear corrections and affirmations from the coaching staff and his teammates, leading him to think he's "got their attention a little bit."

 

More like a lot.

 

"Victor Cruz! What do we need anybody for? We've got Victor Cruz," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "How about the plays he made this morning, huh? I'm serious — he's made some outstanding plays. (Tuesday), he was going by people out here.

 

"Hey, it would be a great thing (to) just keep adding to the group."

 

Cruz, who followed a stellar career at Paterson Catholic by becoming the fourth-leading receiver in UMass history (144 catches), has a long way to go before he can nudge his way into that group of Giants receivers. In fact, it's unclear if there will even be a spot for him.

 

Last year, the team kept seven receivers on the final roster after Derek Hagan proved his value on special teams. The season-ending injury to Domenik Hixon this spring seemingly opened a job for either Cruz or Rutgers' Tim Brown. But the Giants, who before last year had kept no more than six receivers during the Coughlin era, could opt to use that roster spot at another position, such as offensive line.

 

Basically, Cruz needs to excel in the preseason, prove his worth as a punt returner and put his talents on tape for the entire league to see, thus making the Giants think twice about exposing him to waivers on the way to the practice squad.

 

"I love to see him making plays," said Brown, who is Cruz's camp roommate. "That's what we talk about at night before we go to bed: 'We need to have a good day tomorrow.'"

 

On Tuesday afternoon, Cruz raced past starting cornerback Terrell Thomas for a deep ball. Later, he got great separation from rookie corner Courtney Brown on a route that impressed the coaches — even though the ball glanced off his fingertips for a drop.

 

Yesterday, he caught a bunch of passes, including a touchdown on a flag route past Aaron Ross and an unbelievable one-handed grab that might have been a touchdown if he had realized the cones marking the end zone had been moved up. In the evening practice, Cruz caught another touchdown when he reached over the defender's head.

 

"That guy killed us," one UAlbany supporter said of Cruz (121 yards and 2 TDs vs. the Great Danes last year) after his touchdown past Ross.

 

Now, he's after Giants defensive backs while learning a more complicated offense than he encountered in college. At least now he's getting help from his teammates, including Ramses

 

Barden, who helped Cruz with one option route that was giving him issues.

 

Barden told Cruz to wait until he gets past the underneath coverage before reading the safety. Yesterday, with Barden's help, he ran the correct route.

 

"And when I came back," Cruz said, "Ramses told me, 'Good job. That was the right read.'"

 

Mike Garafolo: mgarafolo@starledger.com

 

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He ran a 4.47 Forty and 4.29 Short Shuttle at BC's pro day, those are great numbers

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