Derek Jeter is not giving a timeline to when he will return from his broken ankle. At the same time, he has little doubt he will be able to come back from the injury at some time.

Jeter made his first remarks at Yankee Stadium after last week’s CT scan revealed a small fracture in his surgically repaired left ankle.

“Whenever it heals, I’ll be back,” Jeter said during the 18 1/2 minute press conference before Thursday night’s game with Toronto. “That’s the best way to put it.”

While not currently issuing an estimated time for his return, Jeter also said that he didn’t regret initially setting one.

“I don’t [regret it],” Jeter said of placing a timeline on his return. “My job is to be ready for Opening Day and I feel like I didn’t do my job. My job was to be ready. Unfortunately I wasn’t but I don’t regret it because I think you have to set goals.”

Jeter and the Yankees were hoping he would be activated by May 1 but that time period was going to be missed even before last week’s news. Jeter already had a metal plate and screws inserted into the ankle after breaking it in Game 1 of the ALCS against Detroit.

“It’s the same bone but it’s in a different spot,” Jeter said. “I’m not exactly sure when I did it. When we took the CT scan before spring training had started, the bone had healed. I’m not one to complain about something being sore. You just go out there and play which I did and it just never went away.

“So I wasn’t able to run. I wasn’t able to do things that I wanted to do. So I had it checked out again and that’s when they found out it was fractured again. I would assume it’s probably been like that for some time. But that’s just an assumption, there’s no way to tell.

Jeter is currently in a walking boot but did not wear one to his press conference because that would have delayed the start even longer.

“It’s been a difficult process,” Jeter said. “It’s been a frustrating process. Just when you’re think you’re close to coming back, you have a setback. So it’s part of the healing process. When you get hurt it’s supposed to take time. Unfortunately it’s taking more time than I anticipated.”

Jeter will return at least one month after he turns 39 on June 26. He led the majors in hits with 216 last year and batted .316 in 2012 and .327 after the All-Star break in 2011.

“When you have doubt that’s when you’re in trouble,” Jeter said. “I’ve been told this is going to heal and when it heals I’ll be ready to go. It’s frustrating that I can’t magically make it heal sooner than it’s taking but I have no doubt in my mind.”

“The doc told me when it heals it heals and you’ll be fine,” Jeter said. “Sometimes it takes a little longer. So I have no doubt.”

As determined as Jeter is about returning, manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman are cautiously hopeful.

“Our hope is that he’ll just pick up where he left off last year,” Girardi said. “Once we get this all healed, I don’t think any of us are going to know until we get to that point. We were under the impression that he would heal up and play shortstop for us. He’s had a setback here that we have to deal with but hopefully we get him back and he’s the same player he was at the end of last year.

“I hope to get him back and he’s physically able [to play],” Cashman said. “Obviously Derek’s never done anything but have success. I would expect him to be a successful player like we’ve always gotten from him. It’s hard to expect anything otherwise.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

The post Derek Jeter has ‘no doubt’ he will return from injury appeared first on Metro.us.

The bad news just got worse for Derek Jeter and the Yankees.

General manager Brian Cashman said Thursday Jeter will not be back until after the All-Star break after doctors discovered a small crack in his surgically repaired left ankle.

“We have to back off and let that heal,” Cashman told reporters. “This is obviously a setback. We are looking at, in terms of speculating on when Derek might be back with us, you are looking at some point after the All-Star break.”

Cashman said it will not require further surgery.

When Jeter was shut down during spring training after what the team termed “soreness” in his surgically repaired ankle, he was expected to miss little to no time. The timetable gradually increased to not being ready for Opening Day and then May 1. Now comes word Jeter had to shut down his rehab over the weekend.

Jeter, 38, said back during spring training he was not worried about the original setback, as doctors told him there would be soreness in the ankle. He also made specific reference to the fact that the fracture itself was not an issue.

One of the reasons for the long delay is that Jeter has had very little time to play. Once the small fracture is healed, Jeter would still need as much as a month of game action — approximately the length of spring training — before he could return to the majors.

“He is not ready to play in games,” manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday. “I don’t think they necessarily have an exact date where they know he is going to play in games. We’ll just go day by day and see how he feels.”

The post Jeter will miss entire first half of season appeared first on Metro.us.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter told reporters Tuesday that he was “not concerned” about stiffness in the ankle he broke last October. But on Wednesday, for the second straight game, he will not play.

General Manager Brian Cashman told reporters that in spring training Jeter received a cortisone shot in his injured left ankle and will be shut down for a few days. Worse yet, Cashman wouldn’t rule out Jeter starting the season on the disabled list. He did say the Yankees are hopeful it won’t come to that, and the injury is “not serious.”

“The season is starting to approach,” Cashman said. “I know if you asked him, Opening Day would be a certainty.”

The Yankees open the season April 1 — just 12 days away — at Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox.

Jeter told reporters Tuesday he wasn’t worried about the injury, as doctors had warned him there could be some stiffness in the ankle surrounding where the bone was fractured.

“I’m not concerned,” Jeter said yesterday. “Because I was told this was going to happen.”

But the team sent him for an MRI and examination by Dr. Daniel Murphy, who determined there was “mild inflammation” and he was listed as day-to-day.

Eduardo Nunez will start at shortstop should Jeter not be ready by Opening Day.

Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.

The post Jeter gets cortisone shot, misses second straight game appeared first on Metro.us.

It’s hard to make things up sometimes.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman began his Monday skydiving in Florida. It did not go well. The Daily News’ John Harper traveled up in the plane with Cashman to cover the jump and reports that Cashman suffered a broken ankle in the landing.

Cashman, who was texting reporters from the hospital, confirmed he broke the ankle.

Cashman was jumping with the Army’s Golden Knights to promote the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity aiding injured veterans returning from war.

“I’m in great spirits, and it was an awesome experience. The Golden Knights are first class,” Cashman said in a statement. “While I certainly didn’t intend to raise awareness in exactly this fashion, I’m extremely happy that the Wounded Warrior Project is getting the well-deserved additional attention.”

He actually took two jumps with the Golden Knights. He called his first jump so exciting that he wanted to go again. It was on the second jump in which he injured himself, telling Harper he “heard a pop.”

People who attended to cashman say they’re pretty sure his ankle is broken. They say bone was sticking out. Took him to hospital.

— John Harper (@NYDNHarper) March 4, 2013

Cashman has taken to performing stunts recently in order to raise money for charity. He has rappelled down the 22-story Landmark Building in Stamford, Conn. the past three years to ring in the Christmas season.

Now, he will apparently join outfielder Curtis Granderson, who broke his arm last week, in the rehab program at Steinbrenner Field.

Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.

The post Yankees GM Cashman breaks ankle skydiving appeared first on Metro.us.