The NY Giants are hoping that Victor Cruz can make his return from injury in Week 4 of the season after missing the win against the Redskins on Thursday night. Odell Beckham, Eli Manning, Rueben Randle and the NYG defense led the way as New York got their first win of the season in Week 3 to improve to 1-2 after defeating Washington.
Cruz was ruled out of the game on Thursday and it was unlikely he was going to play, as it was a short week following the loss to the Falcons in Week 2. According to Ralph Vacchiano at the New York Daily News, the Giants are "targeting" Week 4 as a return for Cruz and it comes after he has been dealing with a calf injury since the preseason. Cruz had knee surgery last season and recovered well from that into the summer, but the calf injury kept him out of action in camp and now he could be back for Week 4.
The Giants got their first win of the season without Cruz and they way they played the first couple weeks has shown how much the offense misses the wide receiver. On Thursday night the Giants showed some potential on offense among their wide receivers with Odell Beckham and Rueben Randle both making plays and it likely has coordinator Ben McAdoo salivating at the chance to have all three players healthy at the same time. Last season Cruz and Beckham only played 60 snaps together before Cruz injured his knee and the Giants are hoping he can come back and stay healthy.
Beckham broke out last season and he had a strong game on Thursday night with seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Last week Beckham had 146 yards on seven catches against the Falcons and he is the focal point of the offense now for Eli Manning. Randle was part of the game plan against the Redskins and he made the most of his chances, catching all seven of his targets for 116 yards and scoring an impressive touchdown to help put the game away late.
The Giants defense played well along with the special teams unit, as New York had a blocked punt early that went for a safety and the team also had three turnovers. Andre Williams scored an early touchdown for the Giants and the teams went back and forth with field goals before Manning and the offense started to get going. Manning had an efficient game with 23 of 32 completions for 279 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions.
The Giants are still playing without Jason Pierre-Paul and the team is hoping that he can return at some point this season. According to Pro Football Talk, sources report that many from within the Giants organization fear that JPP will not play at all this season. Pierre-Paul is recovering from a fireworks accident over the summer and he suffered numerous injuries, including a thumb fracture and he also had to have a finger amputated.
