FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Carl Crawford was told Monday that he should refrain from baseball activity for the next 5-7 days, a bit of news that he took philosophically as he attempts to rebound from wrist surgery.
"I just took it in stride,'' said Crawford Tuesday morning. "There's not too much I can really do. I have to just go with the flow and do whatever I can. That's pretty much it.
"I'm pretty sure just waiting and making sure it's fine and isn't going to hurt. I'm pretty much worrying about my timing. I wanted to get that part in. But at the end of the day, it's probably best to wait for it to heal correctly. That way, I can be strong and not have to worry about it happening again.''
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Crawford had attempted to step up his rehab program with some aggressive swings and some bunting drills last week, only to experience some soreness and inflammation.
"It's something I can't control,'' he said. "I just have to wait until it gets ready and my body feels strong and my hand feels strong. I just have to wait for the soreness to go away.''
Manager Bobby Valentine said Monday that, thanks to the week off from activity, having Crawford in the Opening Day lineup is "probably not realistic.''
But Crawford himself isn't sure how long it will take for him to get ready once he's cleared to resume swinging and throwing.
"That's the question I really don't know,'' he said. "I just have to get out there and see how I'm feeling. Normally, for me, I like to get a lot of ABs, so whatever that number is, I'm going to try to get up to where I'm feeling good and have confidence when I come back.
"I thought it would be fine by now, so I have no clue.''
Crawford blamed his own eagerness for the setback and not the rehab program he was following.
"I don't think it was the program,'' he said. "I think it was me pushing myself, just to see. Stuff like this happens. You can't predict this kind of stuff. It's just a setback and you just have to do what you need to do and keep moving forward.
"I think I was just focused on trying to get back period. Opening Day was a goal, but I wanted to be ready for spring training games so I can get the reps. I just wanted to get back on the field in general.''