Cruz and Baas Are Injured Early, and the Giants" Night Doesn't Get Much Better EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Preseason N.F.L. games are for knocking the rust off and for restoring the rhythm and coordination among teammates. The Giants accomplished some of those goals in a dreary 20-12 loss Sunday to the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium. But it was hardly a good night for the home team. Victor Cruz, the subject of a protracted off-season contract negotiation, bruised his left heel on the game's third play and did not play again. Center David Baas sprained a knee at roughly the same time and did not return, either. Near the end of the game, the Giants announced that Justin Tuck had a hamstring injury. The Giants" first-team offense moved the ball inside the Indianapolis 10-yard line three times but failed to score a touchdown. Those starters also converted just two of eight third-down attempts. Quarterback Eli Manning's communication with his receivers seemed spotty and he threw an interception. The Giants" offensive line had some blatant lapses. And most embarrassingly, on defense, Giants cornerback Aaron Ross bobbled a certain interception, knocking into the air where it was caught by Colts receiver Reggie Wayne for a touchdown. Even Coach Tom Coughlin was having a bad day. He had an unsportsmanlike penalty called on him while arguing with the officials. Cruz was hurt on the third play of the game, a post pattern deep down the middle of the field. Manning's pass was underthrown, and as Cruz slowed to try to catch it, he was run over by two Colts defensive backs, Greg Toler and Antoine Bethea. Pass interference was called on the play. Cruz went to the locker room for X-rays and returned to the sideline in shorts with no obvious bandage on his left foot. He was not using crutches. Baas injured his left knee when his leg got tangled in a scrum at the line of scrimmage. "We did some good things, and we did some things we need to do a lot better," said Manning, who completed 8 of 17 passes for 91 yards. We had a couple opportunities to score touchdowns and we didn't. We ran the ball better tonight. We just have to be more consistent. It was good to get some work with Hakeem. It's Week 2 of the preseason and we've got four practices this week to get better. The Giants" opening drive Sunday, greatly aided by the pass interference call, stalled at the Indianapolis 7-yard line when halfback Andre Brown was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1. Brown ran off the left tackle but never got around the edge. The Giants" offense showed more promise on its second possession of the night, which began at the Colts" 49. With Cruz out, Manning went to the reserve wide receiver Louis Murphy for 9 yards and Brown, who gained 36 yards on eight carries, added 8 yards on the ground. Chased out of the pocket on the next play, Manning threw on the run to Hakeem Nicks, who broke off his route and ran to some open space by the sideline. It was a good example of impromptu communication between two veterans and the 20-yard gain put the Giants at the Colts" 12-yard line. But the Giants squandered that good field position. David Wilson, who struggled to gain yards between the tackles, picked up just 5 yards on two successive carries and then Kevin Hardy, playing for Cruz, dropped Manning's pass at the goal line. Josh Brown kicked a 25-yard field goal. The Giants" next possession lasted just three plays as Manning tried to force a pass into Nicks on a slant. But Toler was in tight coverage and intercepted the pass. The fourth Giants possession ended in a punt and the final series for the starters resulted in a 15-play scoring drive that exhibited both the good and bad efforts of the first-teamers Sunday. Manning found Wilson in the flat for a 16-yard pass for one first down, then operating from the no huddle, Manning also connected with Reuben Randle, who has been the star receiver of Giants training camp so far. Manning and Nicks teamed up for a second 20-yard pass play, this one on a slant over the middle. But Nicks also did not seem to have his usual burst to the outside on a deep square-out to the sideline that resulted in an incompletion. Brown picked up 8 yards on his second try at a fourth-and-1 deep in Colts territory. With the Giants at the Indianapolis 5-yard line, a first-down draw play to Wilson up the middle lost 4 yards. Manning's next pass to Ramses Barden was incomplete and on third down there appeared to be a miscommunication as the Giants" new tight end, Brandon Myers, ran in one direction but Manning threw to a different area, resulting in another incompletion. Brown added the second of four field goals. Defensively, there was occasionally some good pressure applied by the Giants" front line. Tuck batted down a pass and the starting defensive tackles and linebackers did a good job controlling the Colts" running game. But Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who completed 9 of 13 passes for 107 yards, was also finding seams in the Giants" secondary. And he was getting help from the Giants. Throwing toward Wayne in the right corner of the end zone, Luck badly underthrew his receiver. It was Ross's ball to intercept, but he juggled the ball as he was falling to the ground, his legs knocking the ball back over his head into the end zone, where Wayne, with a juggling act of his own, corralled the deflection for a touchdown.