Cesar Ruiz has cut down but not cut out his Shake Shack intake this offseason.
Ever since the New Orleans Saints offensive lineman sustained a season-ending injury at the end of last year’s schedule, he has been trying ensure he maintains rather than gains any non-muscle weight during his rehab process. That obviously includes working out in any capacity he can. And it also includes adjusting his diet — slightly.
“I just don’t eat that much Shake Shack,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz suffered a Lisfranc injury in the team’s Week 15 game on Dec. 18 against the Atlanta Falcons. It happened during the Saints’ final offensive possession, and it cost him the rest of his 2022 season. Ruiz was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 20.
Now, amid the Saints’ first week of voluntary offseason training activities, Ruiz remains limited in what he can do. His rehab is not complete. Though his recovery timeline is on schedule, he could not give a ballpark idea of when he’ll actually be cleared for full participation.
Neither could Saints coach Dennis Allen when asked whether Ruiz and fellow offensive lineman Trevor Penning will be able to do anything during OTAs. Ruiz and Penning were both seen in uniform watching rather than running drills with their position group during Tuesday’s media-viewing period.
“I don’t anticipate that (they’ll be active),” Allen said. “I’m not going to get into a bunch of the injury issues. My expectations is they will be ready to go for training camp.”
Penning also suffered a Lisfranc injury. His came during the Saints’ Week 18 game on Jan. 8 against the Carolina Panthers. He was not available for comment in the locker room after Tuesday’s session wrapped.
Unlike Penning, whose 2022 was speckled with injuries and saw limited action in six games, Ruiz played every offensive snap in his 14 starts last year. He was riding a 31-start streak, too. And his 46 consecutive appearances overall was a franchise record at the time.
Being sidelined is not something the former 2020 first-round draft pick is used to, but his spirits seem to be high.
“It’s kind of just like I’m working out, like normal offseason training,” Ruiz said. “I don’t even look at like, ‘Oh, I’m recovering’ or something. That’s a well-known thing in my head, but it’s not something I’m thinking about.”
Besides, Ruiz may have his hands full in OTAs enough already. With him and Penning out, and then Andrus Peat and Ryan Ramczyk absent, the Saints had only one (Erik McCoy) of its five protected starters active in practice.
That means the rookies — such as Nick Saldiveri, Alex Pihlstrom and Mark Evans — will have to turn to Ruiz or McCoy for veteran advice because Penning is in just his second season.
“I’m here,” Ruiz said. “Whatever questions they’ve got, they can just come to me and ask me anything. I’ll help them out the same way the other guys helped me when I first got here. I can’t imagine the amount of questions they could have.”
Apparently that offers extend to dietary suggestions now, too.
Because Ruiz sure had some strong opinions about Shake Shack.
“You can’t cut that out,” Ruiz said. “That’s crazy. You just have to schedule it the right way, and you’re good.”
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