Torn Patellar Tendon Will Cost Giant’s Victor Cruz Rest Of The Season

One quirky play, that’s all it takes.

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Cruz’s freak injury will indeed cost him the rest of the season.

NJ.com writer Kevin Manahan reports that recovery from a torn patellar tendon typically takes at least four to six months.

Cruz jumped in an attempt to catch a potential touchdown pass from quarterback Eli Manning, as the Giants trailed 20-0 in the third quarter of Sunday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He was unable to make the catch, and stayed down in the end zone until he was carted off the field.

He had 21 catches this season for 321 yards and a touchdown. He had two catches for 16 yards before leaving Sunday night’s game.

Newsday is reporting that for Cruz and his fellow players, the worst part wasn’t Cruz laying on the ground.

It was the sound. It was the shrieks of pain that the team’s offensive captain could not contain that really hammered home the despair of the situation Sunday night.

“That’s extremely tough,” safety Antrel Rolle said. “He’s just down there screaming. That’s your brother down there on the floor.”

Said defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, “That was heart-wrenching.”

Cruz couldn’t grab Eli Manning’s pass on the fourth-down play, which was bad enough. But that he grabbed his knee after the incompletion in the end zone and could not get up meant the pain of one night’s blowout loss to the Eagles will linger for much longer with the Giants.

Cruz was carted off in tears with the injury after he was lifted and placed in the cart. He was slowly driven past the Giants’ sideline in an eerie funereal procession, teammates reaching out to tap him as he slowly rolled past toward the locker room and season-ending surgery.

Asked if Cruz was able to say anything, fellow receiver Rueben Randle said, “At that point in time, I don’t think he could.”

And the Giants didn’t have much to say back. Coach Tom Coughlin was one of the crowd that gathered around the clearly hobbled Cruz. “It wasn’t a good situation, a good scene,” he said afterward.

The patellar tendon acts as both a tendon, connecting the quadriceps muscle to the tibia, and the patella to the tibia. When Cruz landed, the force of the impact tore the tendon.

Treatment will require reconstructive surgery, followed by at least 4-6 months of rest and rehabilitation. However, it cannot be rushed. Any tearing while recuperating could definitely set back recovery by months.

[Image courtesy Alaska Orthopaedic and Primary Care]