Robert Ayers Jr. addressed the last-minute injury that kept him out of Saturday’s preseason game against the Jets without shedding a single particle of light on the mysterious ailment.
He said he got hurt in warmups, but wouldn’t say how, what body part or even if he would be ready for the Sept. 13 season-opener vs. Dallas, only how galling the entire thing has been.
“[I’m] kind of just frustrated, because it was a big game for us as a team and organization, and especially with the cross-town rival,” Ayers said. “I definitely wanted to be out there with my guys. Kind of angry. It was an unfortunate situation, a weird situation. I felt like I let my teammates down, especially the D-line.
“I felt like I let them down. I kind of threw them under the bus a little bit with how everything happened. So I feel like with what happened, made things tough on them. I feel bad about that. … I didn’t really know what was going on. I didn’t really know how it happened or whatever. It is what it is. … [Now] I understand what happened now and I know how to handle it.So that’s what we’re going to do.’’
When asked if it was his ankle of Achilles, Ayers said it was his “ankle area.” But he didn’t practice or even run on the side Monday.
Linebacker Mark Herzlich practiced for the first time since suffering a concussion, and defensive end George Selvie returned after sitting out the last two weeks with a knee injury. Linebacker Jonathan Casillas (neck) was back on a limited basis. … The offensive line got some good news with starting center Weston Richburg coming back Monday. He missed Saturday’s preseason game with a knee injury, and Big Blue allowed three sacks against the Jets. … Geoff Schwartz practiced with the first team at right guard, after being with the second unit up until now at both right guard and right tackle.
Rookie Landon Collins and third-year man Cooper Taylor were the first-team safeties on Monday. The former got a good amount of reps at practice after starting Saturday’s game at free safety. But Jeromy Miles, who started at strong safety, was running with the second unit before being forced from practice with a groin injury. For those counting, that’s the fifth safety currently injured.