The Sports Xchange

A lingering calf injury has cast doubt on whether New York wide receiver Victor Cruz will make his season debut when the Giants play the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Cruz sat out Thursday’s practice with the injury that forced him to miss the entire preseason and the Giants’ Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Coach Tom Coughlin did not rule out the possibility that Cruz could dress for Sunday’s game.

“He’s working, and he’s doing more and more,” Coughlin told the New York Daily News. “But they’re not even at the stage where they’re really going to bring him out and turn him loose.”

If Cruz is to play, he will have to practice Friday and show Coughlin that he can run and make cuts without any limitations.

“If he comes back and he practices well, we’ll make a decision,” Coughlin said.

Cruz had been recovering from a ruptured patellar tendon he suffered in his right knee last season when he injured his left calf in mid-August.