Francona: 'Don't know' when Drew will return

Terry Francona made his weekly appearance on The Big Show Wednesday and discussed the status of a pair of injured players, Josh Beckett and J.D. Drew.

Beckett will miss at least a start after spraining his ankle in Toronto on Monday. With the end of the regular season nearing, Francona was asked if the timing of this injury is particularly difficult for the Sox.

"Things happen and you deal with it," Francona said. "You can either choose to deal with it and find a way to win or feel sorry for yourself and make excuses. I don't think we want to do the latter. What we want to do is get Beckett healthy and get him back on the mound when he's supposed to get back on the mound. We don't know when that is yet. For us to go where we want, you need guys like that. We'll get him back on the mound when he's supposed to be. … The five day progression of his starts are very important. So whenever he's able to start it up, that's when we will fit him in there. We'll look at a lot of things -- what our record is, when we'll what to set him up, what sets up best for everybody else -- and we'll work him in there."

Drew was scheduled to come off the disabled list before the Yankees series last week, but a sprained finger in a rehab start with Single-A Lowell has put the right fielder back on the shelf. Francona was asked for a possible return date for Drew, who hasn't played for the Sox since July 19.

"We don't know," Francona said. "He tried to throw yesterday and that didn't go real well. And he hasn't attempted to swing yet, so he's probably not on the horizon. And we haven't had him for a while now."

To hear the interview click on the Big Show audio on demand [1] page. For more Red Sox news visit weei.com/redsox [2].