Robert Ayers Injury: Updates on Giants DE's Ankle and Return

New York Giants defensive end Robert Ayers suffered an ankle injury on Aug. 29, per the team, and did not play in the third or fourth preseason games, but would play in the team's opener against the Dallas Cowboys.

On Aug. 30, head coach Tom Coughlin said defensive end underwent an MRI, via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. 

The linebacker is coming off a 2014 season that was cut short because of a torn pectoral muscle. Prior to hitting the shelf for good, he had notched five sacks and 18 tackles over the course of 12 appearances, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. Had he stayed healthy, he would have had a golden opportunity to surpass his career high of 5.5 sacks in 2013. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Ayers graded out as the league's fifth-best 4-3 defensive end last season behind Cameron Wake, Michael Bennett, Malik Jackson and Junior Galette. 

Now entering the final season of a two-year, $3.75 million deal, per Spotrac, Ayers will need to stay healthy in order to boost his stock as he gets set to enter unrestricted free agency.