Manager Jim Leyland continues to sound less enthused about Andy Dirks’ rehabilitation than the player himself does, noting Tuesday that it “isn’t too good,” as another bout of soreness in the injured Achilles tendon caused the Tigers to back off a bit.

Dirks sounded far more upbeat — intentionally.

“My expectations are always high, I don’t care about the situation,” the second-year outfielder said. “You’ve always got to be positive. But in reality, it’s just one of those injuries that takes a long time to heal.”

Having missed 42 games through Wednesday night, Dirks conceded there’s no reason to push it if it’s sore. He was not going to do any baseball activities, but was planning a workout with strength and conditioning coach Javair Gillet. But Dirks is still hoping to possibly get clearance to head out for a rehab assignment this week.

“It’s still a possibility. It’s definitely still a possibility,” Dirks said. “It’s getting better, but yesterday was just a little sore, so why would we want to push it? It’s been two months, so why would we go out there, keep running hard to where it re-injures again. That doesn’t make any sense.”