Rolle: 'Boots are for wimps!'
East Rutherford, NJ - August 12, 2013: New York Giants personnel tend to safety #26 Antrel Rolle after he sustained an ankle injury during team training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Kneeling alongside Rolle is safety #27 Stevie Brown. (Photo by James Escher) Credit: James Escher
Two days after spraining his ankle and being carted off the practice field, Antrel Rolle walked out of the Giants’ facility without any noticeable limp and, most notably, without the protective boot that he was wearing yesterday.
“Boots,” he declared, “are for wimps.”
And Rolle doesn not consider himself to be a wimp. Nor does anyone else associated with the Giants. Even Tom Coughlin scoffed at the idea of hoping that Rolle returns from the sprain in time for the regular-season opener on Sept. 8.
“I hope he comes back next week,” he said.
That was initially thought to be hyperbole, but it may actually happen. Despite suffering what Rolle called the worst pain of his life – “I don't think anything could feel worse than me running into the camera against Carolina,” Rolle said of his knee injury last season, “but this definitely topped it” – he said today that he feels “a million times better.” In fact, he’s not aiming for the regular-season opener but to get back and see some action in a preseason game.
"That's my goal," Rolle said. "I don't know what everyone else's expectations are but if I can play, I will go. It doesn't matter if it's this week, next week or Week 1. I'm not the kind of guy that's going to milk an injury."
Milking is apparently for wimps, too.
