Giants receiver Victor Cruz will miss rest of season

Overcome with emotion, his hands in front of his eyes as the tears flowed, Victor Cruz couldn’t hide his pain.

If anything showed the extent of the knee injury that Cruz sustained against the Philadelphia Eagles, it was those tears.

NFL players get hurt every week. They lay on the field, clutch or grab the injured part of their body and groan when helped off the field. The patellar tendon the New York Giants wide receiver tore in his right knee in the third quarter of Sunday night’s 27-0 loss left him crying as he was carted off the field next to trainer Byron Hansen.

The best his teammates and Eagles players could do was tap him on the shoulder in support as he left the field. It’s the second straight year the 27-year-old Cruz had his season ended early by a knee injury. He had surgery on his left knee in December after being hurt against Seattle.

“Certainly there was a lot of pain and he is going to have to go through a lot to get back to where he was,” coach Tom Coughlin said of the former free agent who emerged as the Giants’ big playmaker. “He has been challenged his whole life and I don’t see him backing down from any challenge whatsoever.”

Cruz was injured on a non-contact play. The fifth-year veteran tried to make a leaping catch of a fourth-down pass in the end zone with the Giants trailing 20-0. He jumped and almost immediately grabbed his knee and fell to the turf, where he lay for about five minutes.

Cruz underwent successful surgery Monday afternoon. Coughlin did not indicate who would replace Cruz as the Giants head to Dallas.

NFL to discuss personal conduct

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and players’ union chief DeMaurice Smith will meet today to discuss the league’s personal conduct policy.

Goodell and NFL officials will be joined by Smith, the NFL Players Association’s executive director, and Eric Winston, the union president.

At last week’s owners meetings, Goodell said a major topic was potential changes to NFL policies to make them more effective, and how to make decisions in a more timely manner.

Winston told the Associated Press last week that the league needs to “bring in the players in the process and collectively bargain a comprehensive and transparent personal conduct policy.”

Carolina upset at Burfict’s play

Vontaze Burfict’s ankle-twisting return to the field has added to his reputation for crossing the line and put him in line to get fined again.

The Bengals’ Pro Bowl linebacker was penalized for two personal fouls during a 37-37 tie with Carolina on Sunday. He’d missed the two previous games recovering from his second concussion of the season.

Burfict also twisted the ankles of Cam Newton and tight end Greg Olsen after tackles. Panthers coach Ron Rivera said on Monday there’s “no place in the game for players doing extra stuff” to an opponent.

Around the league

Bills general manager Doug Whaley says he has granted the agent for wide receiver Mike Williams permission to seek a trade. … The Jets have placed starting cornerback Dee Milliner on season-ending injured reserve with a torn Achilles tendon, and signed cornerback Josh Thomas to take his spot on the roster. … Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan has another fracture near his left kneecap and is expected to miss several weeks.