Robert Ayers 'embarrassed' by ankle injury suffered in pregame warmups

Robert Ayers doesn't want to talk about what happened. He doesn't want to talk about why it happened. He won't say exactly what he injured (it's in the "ankle area," he conceded). But one thing Ayers had no problem opening up about Monday was how he felt after hurting himself in pregame warmups on Saturday.

The word "embarrassed" came up. So did "kind of frustrated . . . kind of angry." He momentarily questioned his toughness and called the situation stupid and weird.

Ayers on Monday declared himself day-to-day after missing the Giants' preseason game against the Jets.

"I'll be all right," he said. "I say embarrassed because I wasn't able to go out there with my teammates. I look at it and I think, 'Rob Ayers hurt in pregame warmup' and to me, I know how I view things, and if it happened to someone else, I would question their toughness. It puts me into a situation to where I'm questioning my toughness, and that's how I feel about it."

The defensive end sat out practice Monday and said he isn't sure when he'll return.

"As far as what happened, that's a tricky question that'd I'd rather not try to get into," he said. "I wasn't doing anything stupid, it was just one of [those things]."

With the first game of the season two weeks away, he didn't seem concerned that the injury will affect his ability to play.

"That's a long way from now," he said. "I'm going to do everything I can to be able to play, to be able to play soon."

Blue notes

OLB Jonathan Casillas (neck) practiced on a limited basis . . . S Jeromy Miles had to leave practice with a groin injury . . . DE George Selvie returned to practice for the first time since injuring his knee on Aug. 17. OLB Mark Herzlich (concussion) and C Weston Richburg (knee) also returned.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.