HAWTHORN's James Frawley is set to miss at least six weeks with a pectoral injury, leading sports medico Dr Peter Larkins says.

Frawley injured his right pectoral in a tackle in the first quarter of the Hawks' loss to Essendon on Sunday and was substituted out of the game soon after.

Larkins told AFL.com.au on Monday that scans would determine whether Frawley would need surgery on his pectoral as he did in 2011 when he injured his left pectoral doing gym work.

However, Larkins said the former Demon faced a lengthy stint on the sidelines even if he did not need an operation.

"I think we'll learn today that James has a high-grade tear of the pec major, which is the big muscle through the chest," Larkins said.

"The question will be what percentage the tear is, because that will determine whether he needs surgery.

"Most surgeons would decide to repair it if the tear is more than about 50 per cent of the tendon, so they will need to determine from the scan how much tendon he has left.

"But from the look on his face I think he knew it was a pretty significant injury.

"You're looking at six to eight weeks as the best-case scenario without surgery, while the recovery after surgery is usually in the 10-weeks-plus range."

Meanwhile, Larkins estimated Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett's troublesome left shoulder was only back to about 70 per cent strength.

The two-time Brownlow medallist has been clearly carrying his shoulder at times in the Suns' opening two games of 2015, but Larkins said the former Cat's recovery would not necessarily be fast-tracked by rest.

"Clearly Gary is being hampered in his range of motion and is experiencing some pain in the reconstructed shoulder, and that's because he's got stiffness and inflammation," Larkins said.

"I reckon he's at about 70 per cent of where he needs to be in terms of strength and in terms of his ability to tackle and get tackled.

"We've seen him playing with one arm which shows what a good player he is, but it will take a lot more time (to get back to full strength).

"He could take two or three weeks off and the pain will go down, but he'll still be stiff, so as he said he'd rather play through the pain.

"There is a risk with him continuing to play that he will get more inflammation and therefore will have less movement as time goes by, so it's not always going to get better with time if he keeps playing."

Doc Larkins' prognosis on the other key injuries leading into round three

Nick Dal Santo, North Melbourne (left hamstring)
He had a little bit of soreness in the week before last Sunday's win over the Brisbane Lions and that perhaps predisposed him to this injury. I don't think he'll be getting up this week and expect him to miss two to three games.

Daniel Wells, North Melbourne (Achilles tendon/calf)
You would hope with treatment that he should be able to begin lighter training in the first part of this week, and North is expecting him to play against Port Adelaide this Saturday night even though he came up sore after the Lions win. It's probably a precautionary management thing with him because North doesn't want to risk him and see him miss three or four weeks.

Brett Deledio, Richmond (Achilles tendon)
He was suspended last round but had a really sore Achilles and was subbed out of the Tigers' round one win over Carlton. He will need to get through a fitness test to play against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night.

Brodie Smith, Adelaide (concussion)
He pulled up well after the game, which is a good sign, but the Crows probably won't know until Friday whether he'll be fit to play Melbourne on Saturday.

Simon White, Carlton (medial ligament)
He's had a long history of trouble with the same knee, having had a LARS ligament repair back in 2012. Unfortunately, his body didn't accept the LARS ligament and it had to be removed, so he's got a lot of scar tissue. He's been playing with the knee strapped for three seasons now, so he will have ongoing trouble and is likely to miss a few weeks while he gets on top of it.

Ben Sinclair, Collingwood (left hamstring)
This is his third left hamstring injury in a 12-month period, so he is getting into the Cyril Rioli class. Likely to miss four weeks or more.

Zac Clarke, Fremantle (left knee)
He hurt his 'good knee' because he had a previous significant posterior cruciate ligament injury on his right knee and multiple surgeries on it. He's also had arthroscopes on his left knee and if he's stirred up his previous cartilage troubles then he's likely to miss this week.

Sam Mitchell, Hawthorn (corked calf)
The Hawks didn't risk him against Essendon because of his age and history of soft-tissue injuries, but I'm expecting Sam to build up his training later this week and be available for Sunday's clash against the Western Bulldogs.

Josh Gibson, Hawthorn (back soreness)
Also missed Sunday's loss to Essendon but likely to play against the Western Bulldogs this round.

Jimmy Bartel, Geelong (concussion)
Missed Saturday's loss to Fremantle but was close to playing. I expect him to pass the concussion process this week and play against Gold Coast on Sunday.

Shane Edwards, Richmond (calf tightness)
Missed round two but I expect him to get up for Saturday night's clash against the Lions.

Jarman Impey, Port Adelaide (hamstring)
Likely to miss at least three matches.