Victor Cruz's knee is a 'car in a car accident' and will likely never be the same: Report

As if Sunday's night's 27-0 beating by the Eagles wasn't bad enough, the Giants woke up Monday with the knowledge that their best playmaker, Victor Cruz, would be out for the rest of the season after a freak third quarter play the night before.

And if Cruz's screams of pain after the wideout's devastating knee injury weren't enough to shield your ears, a highly-respected former doctor now says Cruz's days of salsa dancing in the end zone may be far and between in the future.

“He can return to 100%, but it (his knee) is a car in a car accident,” said Dr. David Chao, a former NFL team physician. “Never brand new when fixed.”

Cruz, who ruptured his right patellar tendon on Sunday, was transferred from Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia on Monday to the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, where he underwent surgery performed by Dr. Russell Warren. The Giants said the procedure was “successful.”

Cruz’s injury, rare among NFL skill position players, is the kind that could rob him of what makes him truly dangerous: his explosive change-of-direction ability. 

When he left the field on Sunday, he was unable to straighten his knee, the result of the tendon rupture that sent his kneecap traveling upwards and out of place. And while a handful of NFL players have returned from this injury, none have returned to their truly elite form.

“Studies show full return,” Chao said in general. “Of course there’s no way to measure explosive (ability) objectively.”

According to the N.Y. Daily News:

A patellar tendon rupture cannot be repaired arthroscopically, so it requires a massive open procedure, and such surgeries instantly have a lengthy and painful rehab.

For six weeks after the surgery, the joint must be immobilized, likely in a cast, so it can heal, and in that time, the surrounding muscles, unused for more than a month, will gradually degrade.

Those must be rebuilt, mechanics must be retrained, and it will likely be six months (into mid-April) before Cruz can attempt to run again, let alone make the cuts and jukes that left cornerbacks grasping at air.

In 2011, the American Journal of Sports Medicine released a study of 22 NFL players with patellar tendon ruptures between 1994 and 2004, and it found that it’s possible for players to return. But the study defined a “success” as any player who only appeared in a game post-surgery, and it couldn’t quantify whether players retained their once explosive skills.

“(It’s) harder and more painful early recovery than ACL,” said Chao, referring to the most common serious knee injury in the NFL.

Victor Cruz's screams told Giants, Eagles players his injury was serious (VIDEO)

It didn't take a doctor's report to tell Giants and Eagles players on the field what occurred in the third quarter of Sunday night’s game. It came from a sound that was something that Eagles cornerback Brandon Boykin admitted he won’t ever forget. 

They were the screams that came from Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz after he wrecked his knee on a freak play.

Cruz ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee when he jumped for a fourth-down pass in the corner of the end zone. And the players immediately knew it was serious when he came down clutching the twisted joint.

“He was screaming, like really screaming, not like ‘ahhh.’ But screaming at the top of his lungs,” Boykin said. “When you do hear a professional NFL player scream like that, you know it’s a serious injury.”

It was so bad that Giants quarterback Eli Manning couldn’t even offer words of encouragement to his friend. In this situation, it wouldn’t have helped. Manning had to just watch as the sobbing Cruz was carted off the field.

“It was tough to say anything to him,” he said. “I went there and patted him on the shoulder, but he was in some pain and it wasn’t a great opportunity. Anything I would have said, he wouldn’t have heard me.”

Cruz’s season is over. Knee injuries are nothing new to the Giants star — but patella tendon injuries can ruin careers.

Giants fans can now only wish for Cruz's successful recovery and hope to see his salsa dances once again.