EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Victor Cruz is back a lot sooner than anyone expected.After missing all of last season and being limited to six games over the past two, the New York Giants receiver was a full-go as the team held its first practice at training camp Friday under new coach Ben McAdoo.With the Giants indoors because of overnight rain, the workout looked more like a slow-speed organized team activity.Cruz didnt seem to care. He participated in every drill. He caught passes. He worked at recovering fumbles, knocking off some of the rust. The nearby Paterson product didnt show any signs of being limited either by his knee or the calf injury that plagued him last year.I was just happy to be out there with the guys, said the 29-year-old Cruz.The next step will be doing it in practice and then games.Cruz is confident that he can. He also believes he can return to being a big-threat playmaker, like he was in 2011, 12 and 13 before the injuries set in.I think as these days progress and as these days go on, thats the plan. Thats the goal, to be myself, Cruz said. If I am not where I once was, there is no reason to be out here. I feel like I want to go back and be at that same pedigree, and thats what I worked hard all season for.McAdoo said Cruz will be monitored during training camp, and there will be adjustment to his workload if needed.He got some good individual work in and was sharp on his assignments. He looked good, McAdoo said, adding that Cruz will work with both the first- and second-team offensive units.Cruz acknowleged there has been some anxiety in recent days. He felt a lot of eyes looking in his direction on Thursday as the team went through conditioning drills after reporting. He woke up early Friday, just to get to the facility.Cruz guessed that he will need only one play to really know that he is back. Hell catch a ball in practice and make something happen.Right now me just being out here, running around and being in the same receiver line as everybody else, thats the first sign of being back, Cruz said.The second sign will be to show consistency, to make those sharp cuts and prove it out on the field. He has no intention of holding back over health concerns.Getting back on the same page with quarterback Eli Manning should not be a problem.Eli and I have been together long enough, Cruz said. We understand how to play the game and how he wants it done. Im pretty coachable, so we can go back and forth.Manning said Cruz know McAdoos offense.We just got to get him back to making plays, making catches, Manning said. Its different when youre catching balls from a JUGS machine, rather than in here you got one-on-one, you got to run a route, you got to make a tight catch. We just got to get him back to making football plays again.Cruz knows there are people who doubt that he will be able to make a comeback after being out so long.As much as people say they dont read those comments, I skim them a bit, Cruz said. I dont let it affect me as much, but I skim them just to gauge what people are saying.And you can bet, he intends to prove them wrong.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap Flyers Jerseys . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. Anthony Stolarz Jersey . 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Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide the showdown Tuesday night between the Cubs and Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLCS, and then vote for which team will win at the bottom of the page.What we learned in Game 2Clayton Kershaw allowed two hits in seven shutout innings and Kenley Jansen mowed through the final six batters as Adrian Gonzalezs second-inning home run off Kyle Hendricks held up in a 1-0 victory.?-- David SchoenfieldInside the pitching matchupWhen Jake Arrieta is on the mound: There arent too many pitchers who go 18-8 with a 3.10 ERA and we feel like it was a bit of letdown. Arrieta had a 1.74 ERA through June 22, dominating like he did in 2015, but he had control/command issues after that and posted a 4.44 ERA over his final 16 starts with 41 walks in 99? innings. Against the Giants in the division series, he allowed six hits and two runs over six innings, but walked just one batter with five strikeouts.Arrieta mentioned during an in-game interview the other night that he had sort of lost the feel for his cutter (or slider) midseason, but feels like he has it back and has regained the confidence to throw it at any time. Lets see what the numbers say:April: .037 average, 30 percent strikeout rateMay: .286, 12.8 percentJune: .176, 45 percentJuly: .429, 12 percentAugust: .286, 18.8 percentSeptember: .143, 12 percentIndeed, after throwing it 113 times in April and 125 times in May, he threw the cutter/slider just 51 times in August before ramping back up to 81 in September. Against the Giants he threw it 29 times, his most in one game since May. The Giants, like the Dodgers, have a lot of left-handed batters, so look for Arrieta to make that a key part of his arsenal once again.Otherwise, Arrietas fastball is still a tough pitch, averaging 93.8 mph with some late sink to it. Against left-handers, he tends to work the outer third of the strike zone with the fastball and he also works up and down the zone. Hell mix in his curveball as well. Even when he was struggling with walks, Arrieta did a good job limiting hard contact.??-- SchoenfieldWhen Rich Hill is on the mound: When he wasnt sidelined by blisters, Hill was one of the best starters in baseball in 2016, going 12-5 with a 2.12 ERA between the As and Dodgers, holding batters to a .195 average. On the surface, his repertoire seems pretty basic: A fastball from 88 to 91 mph and a big-breaking curveball. He throws both up in the strike zone -- 70 percent of his fastballs are in the upper half compared to the MLB average of 50 percent.What makes him so difficult to hit is the deception in his delivery. Both pitches are delivered on the same axis, what pitchers call mirroring. His curveball will also have different speeds and arcs to it. His fastball generates extreme spin, leading to fly balls and pop-ups. And just to throw a wrinkle into everything, he occasionally drops down and throws sidearm. Add it up and its a delivery and repertoire batters just dont see.He started Game 5 of the Division Series and Dave Roberts had a quick hook, pulling him after 2 2/3 innings even though six of the eight outs had come via thee strikeout.dddddddddddd Hed allowed three hits but none were hit that hard. Hes back on four days of rest, but Roberts will have a rested bullpen after the day off. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightDexter Fowler. The Cubs are hitting .193 in the postseason with several regulars hitting below .200. Anthony Rizzo (1-for-23) and Addison Russell (1-for-22) are most notable, but we mentioned Rizzo here in the Game 2 preview. One reason the Cubs offense worked so well this year was Fowler getting on base in the leadoff spot. Hes just 4-for-24 (.167) with a .231 OBP in six games.?-- SchoenfieldDid you know ...In his NLDS Game 3 start, Arrieta threw 10 pitches that were taken, none of which were called a strike. That is the second time this season that batters took at least 10 of his pitches without a called strike; the first was Aug. 18 vs. the Brewers. ?-- ESPN Stats & InfoWhat will decide the game Tuesday nightArrietas heat. Arrieta limited opponents to a .198 batting against his fastball during the regular season, the best mark by any NL pitcher. The Dodgers were 1-15 in at-bats ending with a fastball when they faced Arrieta on May 31. However, Arrieta will be up against two of the better fastball hitters in the league in Corey Seager and González, who combined for the Dodgers only two hits in seven innings against Arrieta back in May. Los Angeles has a .824 OPS against fastballs this postseason and a .507 OPS against off-speed pitches. ?-- ESPN Stats & InfoChoosing sides: Who will win??The Cubs have been striking the ball well and that includes Game 2, when they had nothing to show for a few well-hit balls off of Kershaw. Its been a playoff-long slog for the offense but I like their chances against Hill. Arrieta will have to command his secondary pitches against all those L.A. lefties, but I expect him to be sharp. At this point, the hitters are due, and its awfully hard to beat the Cubs in back-to-back games. Im going with Chicago in Game 3. -- Brad Doolittle?This is bound to be another low scoring affair and Jake Arrietas history in this park will come into play. He simply likes everything about pitching at Dodger stadium. Joe Maddon will make small lineup changes which will benefit in a big way as the Cubs squeak by in Game 3. -- Jesse Rogers?You know that narrative about the Dodgers being extremely bad against left-handed pitching? The Cubs have been worse this postseason and up next is another lefty in Hill. They are fortunate, though, to have Jake Arrieta?pitching in Dodger Stadium, a venue that agrees with him. The Cubs figure to take Game 3 in what is developing into a back-and-forth affair. -- Doug PadillaWhere the series standsWere tied up and the Dodgers head home, where they were 53-28. They had a 2.97 ERA at Dodger Stadium and beat the Cubs two out of three here in late August. The Cubs will start John Lackey in Game 4 while the Dodgers remain undecided. 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