Giants morning report: Jason Pierre-Paul, Victor Cruz, Will Beatty, more

Good morning, New York Giants fans! Here are your morning headlines, coming to you from a lovely New Jersey hotel within sight of MetLife Stadium.

JPP 'going to be behind'

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo thinks Jason Pierre-Paul is an elite pass rusher. He also knows Pierre-Paul will be behind in learning the team's defense when gets to training camp.

"He is going to be behind, because there is a lot we are doing right now," Spagnuolo said. "But he had been around for a period of time. He did a little bit of the mental work, which I greatly appreciated. I thought that spoke volumes to who he is and what he is about and how important it is to him. Because it is new - terminology is big in this league on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, he is up to that challenge and we can get up to speed real quick."

Defensive line coach Robert Nunn said Pierre-Paul has some of the information.

"Obviously, he is not here, but I have been in touch with him and he came up here and we met with him for a few days," Nunn said. "He has got a start of what is going to be expected when he gets here."

Pierre-Paul, of course, is skipping mini-camp as he has not yet signed his tender after the Giants placed the franchise tag on him.

Cruz expects to be ready for training camp

Wide receiver Victor Cruz, rehabbing from his torn patellar tendon, caught passes from Odell Beckham Tuesday in a friendly game of catch. Cruz expects to be ready to catch them from Eli Manning when training camp begins July 30.

"I believe so," he said. "I am listening to my body right now and the way it feels and I am almost there. Obviously, by late July, early August, I should be somewhere around 100 percent. I am feeling good," Cruz said. "I just want to go out there and play and enjoy the second half of my career. A lot of guys don't get to play six, seven-plus years in this league and I just want to enjoy it."

Will Beatty: Injury a 'freak accident'

Fans have wondered what Will Beatty was doing and how he tore a pectoral muscle lifting weights with the team this spring. Tuesday, Beatty explained.

"It was a freak accident. It wasn't, I mean I was lifting heavy, but it wasn't my max. It was just something like, ‘What happened?' I just don't really know what happened. I know that I got to go into the recovery looking towards the future rather than the past," Beatty said.

Beatty expects to ready to play the second half of the season.

"I was talking to the doctor, he was like ‘we could have surgery, it is something that can be 100 percent when you recover' so that is my goal and that is my mentality, to get back out there and to still prove to myself that I can still do this. Still prove to the team and thanking them for still giving me the opportunity and expecting to be back, saying, ‘We want you to be back,' " Beatty said. "You never know how it is going to go and just being in this each year, you have to be thankful for every year you get to play in this league and this organization. That is more of my mindset [and] that is more of my goal, not losing my spot or what is going on for when I get back. Let me be able to contribute to this and let me get healthy so they can use me and I can show them I am building on last season."

Corey Washington and special teams

Wide receiver Corey Washington made a couple of nice catches during practice on Monday, and has gotten increased first-team work with Beckham and Cruz not participating. Washington, though, is still going to have to show the Giants improvement on special teams.

"We just need him to get better so he can contribute on all four. Right now he is a two-team player but we would like to see him on all four so you maximize that roster space and that if he is dressed on game day," special teams coordinator Tom Quinn said. "he has primarily been on punt return and kick off return. We would like to develop some of his coverage skills on punt and kickoff."

Berhe's missed opportunity

Nat Berhe has not practiced this spring due to a calf injury. The second-year safety ran a little bit on Tuesday, but that's all.

"That hurts tremendously because all the reps that Cooper and Landon and Mykkele [Thompson] and some of the other guys have taken, Nat would have been right in there with all the other guys," safeties coach Dave Merritt said. "By him standing on the sideline and taking mental reps - I understand you are taking mental reps, but it is different. It is not the same as putting your body through the motions and making your body react to different movements that the receivers are stemming at you. It is going to definitely hurt him and set him back a little bit, but hopefully he can come back at training camp and be ready to fight for a starting job."