Scans on Monday showed McVeigh suffered a ligament strain in the tibia-fibula joint and could be back playing in a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of four.
"It was good news from our point-of-view," football operations manager Paul Hamilton said. "His scans came back an hour ago and it's only a grade one strain so we're really pleased with that.
"It's the same joint Andrew Welsh injured, although he broke his, but it's the same spot."
Hamilton said the scan had buoyed the key Bomber after he initially thought more serious damage had been done.
"McVeigh first thought it might have been worse than a strain, and the way he was looking at it, he had a few injuries last year so he was concerned and thinking the worst and being a little bit pessimistic," he said.
"Now he's quite positive and confident he'll progress."
McVeigh has already missed a chunk of the pre-season owing to a broken toe sustained at training late last year.
However, Hamilton believes he won't be affected fitness-wise by his second layoff since the end of the 2008 season.
"It's not an ideal preparation, clearly, but at the same time he's a naturally fit sort of player. Some players are able to get up and get running fairly quickly and he's one of those," he said.
"He had a good fitness base prior to his original injury and he was as fit as anyone at the club.
"We think his general base is good, so while we'd prefer he didn't get the injury, we don't think it's going to be a massive problem. Of course, whenever you come back after a few weeks off, it takes a week or two to get into it."
Hamilton said the length of McVeigh's layoff was unpredictable owing to the weight-bearing nature of the joint, but believed there was a reasonable chance he could play in round one on March 29 against Port Adelaide.
"It will depend on how he reacts once we put him on his feet and get him moving on it," he said.
"It could be two weeks, it could be four weeks. We'll find that out as we go along."
The injury does not require surgery, and rehabilitation will involve a week completely off his feet followed by a graduated walking/running program that will commence in seven days' time if the foot is pain-free.
Hamilton said there were no other injuries to come from Friday night's match.
Mark McVeigh is rated a $395,200 midfielder in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.
