Hawthorn forward Mitch Lewis is expected to miss Round 1 after injuring his knee at training.
With the blow occurring on Monday, Lewis was sent in for scans which revealed he suffered a sprain to his ACL.
While the 24-year-old won’t require surgery, the club says he’ll “certainly” spend some time on the sidelines.
"We will monitor Mitch's progress closely over the coming weeks," Hawthorn head doctor Liam West said via a statement.
"He will certainly spend some time on the sidelines though and, at this stage, we expect him to miss Round 1.
"Whilst this is the same knee he injured last season, it is an unrelated injury.”
Hawthorn will hope Lewis has a speedy recovery after the key tall enjoyed a breakout 2022 campaign where he kicked 37 goals from 15 games.
The Hawks open their 2023 season with a Round 1 clash against Essendon at the MCG on Sunday, March 19.
Gerard Healy gave his thoughts on the injury.
“What a shame. When he says miss the start of the season, it could be six weeks, eight weeks, a couple of months building up the quads and letting it settle down,” he said.
“Fortunately it wasn’t the full ACL so it’s going to have some fibres torn and be a bit loose, but hopefully it doesn’t set him back too far.
“There’s a lot of focus on him given Jack Gunston has gone up to Brisbane.
“He had a breakout season in many ways and they’ll hope they he can still compete and keep improving once he’s back on the track.”