Victor Cruz: McAdoo firing 'long overdue'

Victor Cruz didn't need to be in the New York Giants' locker room to know former head coach Ben McAdoo wasn't the answer to their problems.

The free-agent receiver, who played for the Giants from 2010-2016, joined NFL Network on Tuesday, one day after McAdoo was fired, and didn't hold back on his former coach.

"I think it was long overdue," Cruz said. "I think it was a couple of weeks already too late.

"Once you see guys in that locker room start to give these anonymous reports about how he's handling them and practice on (Saturday), that's how you know he's completely lost the locker room and completely lost the players."

Cruz played under McAdoo for three seasons (two as offensive coordinator and one as head coach), though the receiver missed the majority of those games due to injury.

The 31-year-old pass-catcher also addressed Eli Manning's benching, calling it "one of the most disrespectful things I've seen in a very long time," and saying it was the biggest reason for McAdoo's dismissal. Asked whether the Giants' recent troubles would have happened under former head coach Tom Coughlin, Cruz said: "No shot."