Victor Cruz hasn't played a football game since October 2014, but the New York Giants' receiver believes he's ready to return during training camp later this summer.
"I'm feeling great. Workouts have been going amazing. Each day, it gets better and better," Cruz said on Friday, via NJ.com. "I'm excited to continue to train, continue that pattern, and see where it takes me. ... I'm 100 percent. I feel good. No injuries, no ailments, nothing hurts, no pain."
Cruz suffered a torn patellar tendon in 2014 and had his comeback short-circuited last year by a nagging calf injury, which eventually led to surgery.
The receiver's optimism meshes with that of GM Jerry Reese, who said earlier in the week the team is "hoping he will be the Victor we know."
Cruz said being ready by training camp is "definitely the goal," but knows the Giants will ease him into workouts.
"This offseason program is using the OTA days as building blocks," he said. "We're using these days to build up as we go along, and then when I go on my own (in the summer), my personal trainer will have a rapport with the Giants staff in order to keep that building block process going. By training camp, I should be pretty much ready to go."
The Giants are crossing their fingers that Cruz will be Cruz again in 2016. That would be a huge boost for Big Blue's offense opposite Odell Beckham Jr., but coming off a patellar tendon tear offers many pitfalls. Cruz might be back by training camp, but the question is will he ever be fully back to the salsa-dancing playmaker the Giants need?