EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- As the New York Giants began their first practice of this week's minicamp in the field house Tuesday, their top two wide receivers could be seen through the windows, running sprints on one of the outdoor fields. When practice began, Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr. spent some time playing catch with a football at midfield before adjourning to the sideline to watch.
Cruz is working his way back from the serious knee injury that ended his 2014 season in Week 6. Beckham has been sidelined for a few weeks now with a hamstring injury in the leg opposite the one whose hamstring cost him all of training camp and the first four regular-season games in 2014. Both hope to be ready for training camp, but in the meantime the Giants are having to work without their two most dynamic offensive weapons.
"It makes it hard, yes," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said after Tuesday's practice. "I mean, I see what we can do. At least I got to see Odell for a while, but there's no doubt. You have a lot of timing involved, you have a two-minute drill, you're trying to time things up. You're trying to create some things where the ball gets out of the quarterback's hands quickly. I don't know exactly what the issue was here today, but the offense wasn't very good in the two-minute drill."
Corey Washington, Dwayne Harris, Marcus Harris and Preston Parker are among the wide receivers getting first-team reps along with Rueben Randle while Cruz and Beckham are out. Each has had ups and downs, as is to be expected, but there's little doubt the offense will function better once Beckham and Cruz are a part of it.
As for when that will be? Well, the Giants have continued to say they're holding Beckham out as a precaution because of last year, with the intent that he'll be ready for training camp. But it's clear they're at least a little bit worried.
"We approach it the same way, but we don't have our head in the sand," Coughlin said. "We know the guy has an issue. I think the training room is well aware of that."
As for Cruz, he boldly proclaimed that he could pass the pre-training camp conditioning test if it were held today and said he hopes to be cleared to do individual and 7-on-7 drills once training camp opens in late July or early August. But he also said he's going strictly by what the trainers and the medical staff are telling him is best for his recovery from that torn patellar tendon in his right knee.
"They want to bring me along slowly," Cruz said. "They don't like for me to look too far ahead. So far, so good. No setbacks or anything like that."
In other Giants injury/participation news...
Tight end Larry Donnell remains out with an Achilles injury, and the fact that he's still in a walking boot is not encouraging. Daniel Fells is getting more tight end reps, as are Jerome Cunningham and undrafted Will Tye.
Linebacker Devon Kennard has yet another injury, this one a hamstring, that is keeping him off the practice field. He missed time earlier this year with an ankle injury and had several physical issues in his 2014 rookie season as well.
Safety Nat Berhe continues to sit out with a calf injury that has deprived him of a valuable chance to impress a coaching staff that's dying for someone to claim the starting free safety spot.
Defensive ends Robert Ayers (ankle) and Damontre Moore (shoulder) did some limited work as each progresses in his recovery. Rookie defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa, who missed some OTA practices with a hamstring injury, participated in some team drills Tuesday as part of the defensive line rotation for the first time that I've seen.
Left tackle Will Beatty, who is out until at least midseason following surgery to repair a pectoral muscle he tore lifting weights in May, was on the field watching practice. Beatty said after practice that doctors have told him he can make a full recovery and return to the field this season. "I have the opportunity to come back, and they're letting me know that early so I don't just sit around and mope around," Beatty said. "So the fact that they still want me is a good thing, and it's much easier to live with positive things than negatives."'
