But the reality is far worse, and for gun Western Bulldogs defender Dale Morris to be looking right to play in the preliminary final this weekend, after copping the injury against Sydney on August 21, is phenomenal.
The average person, working a 'normal' job, would spend months off work, with a similar injury.
For the Bulldogs to get him back, after the week they've had, is an enormous boost. They got some real confidence out of last week's win, and to get this news on top of that is terrific.
When you're building a side to win finals, you look around for someone who you can guarantee - will give you their maximum effort every time they go out onto the track. That person might not be your best player, but you want to build a side around effort and consistency, and Morris is a deadset certainty for that every week.
Most players would love to ease their way back into the side - play on the third-best forward, get your footy legs again. But the reality is that he has a great track record on Nick Riewoldt, so that's where he'll go from the start.
Riewoldt blew Harry Taylor up a couple of weeks ago, but he won't do that to Morris, who can go with him every step of the way, making it to every contest. When Riewoldt's got him it's been simply because he was just too good, and Rooey can do that to anyone in the competition. Riewoldt is the one player left in the finals who I reckon clubs look at and think, well, if it all goes right for him, who can stop him?
You look back to the preliminary final last year, and while Riewoldt kicked four goals, there wasn't much more that Morris could have done. Riewoldt kicked one from a free kick (not conceded by Morris) in the third term, and up until that stage, Morris had played on him every step of the way, and if you went back and measured all the one-on-one contests you'd have to say Morris got more than his share of wins, and Riewoldt was absolutely flying back then. So there is a bit of a sense of destiny, that Morris will be able to come back and resume the battle from last year - when he played with a fractured leg. Playing injured is not unusual for this bloke.
But Morris can also go small - he's 190cm and 92kg and has spent most of his 132 games playing against much bigger bodies, but he's taken Stephen Milne to the cleaners before, so he can play out of his weight division downwards as well. That makes for a vastly more flexible back six, and gives Rodney Eade a lot more options.
Five or six years ago Morris was playing in the Werribee reserves and just two years ago he was All-Australian. It didn't seem to matter what level of football he is playing at, he can still do the same quality job.
I played school football with Ben Hart, and he was a really good player, but not an unbelievable one, but like Morris, he was just able to produce what was required in the circumstances.
You can imagine Morris playing in an all-star game with the best 44 players, and it wouldn't be any different for him in terms of effort, accountability and effectiveness than when he was playing in the Werribee reserves. He's one of those blokes who, at training, you go out of your way not to play on in the one-on-one duels - he's incredibly determined, and has extreme resilience. And just as Riewoldt came back from his hamstring-enforced break refreshed and ready to go, expect the same from Morris.
Looking back at last year's prelim, on every measure bar the scoreboard - which is the one that counts, unfortunately - the Bulldogs won. Contested possessions, inside-50s - all went the Bulldogs' way, but they didn't take their chances, and that left the door open for Riewoldt to stand up and manufacture a couple of goals, which was enough.
Here we are again this year, although this time the Bulldogs are massive underdogs, but I get the sense that internally, there's a lot of positive energy in the kennel.
Will that, and the return of Morris, be enough? We'll know late on Saturday night.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
