ALLEN PARK -- Nate Burleson busted up his forearm in a pizza-induced car accident this week, shelving him just hours after his best game with the Detroit Lions.

But he hasn't lost his sense of humor.

Lions receiver Nate Burleson wouldn't put a timetable on a return, but is hopeful it'll be this season.

"I should do a commercial," he said. "'Pizza so good, it'll make you crash your car.'"

Burleson's spirits are intact, although damaged after breaking the ulna and radius in his left forearm. He is sporting a cast on the left arm and is out for several weeks.

But he fully expects to play again this season, and didn't dispute a report that pegs him for a possible November return. He said he already was riding a bike Friday, and hopes to resume running in a couple weeks.

"I don't know, but I'd say sooner than later," Burleson said of a return, squeezing a tennis ball in his left hand. "I don't want to throw numbers out there, but I'll be back sooner than I think a lot of people expect."

Part of what makes Burleson so confident is the breaks were clean and the arm hasn't been infected, which delays some recoveries.

"I'm trying to get back as soon as possible," he said, when asked if a November return was plausible. "Just have to be smart. I'm the type of guy that will put myself on the field before I need to be."

Burleson said the accident occurred after a late-night visit to Happy's Pizza in Bloomfield Hills, a Detroit suburb. He was with linebacker Stephen Tulloch, among others.

He left with a couple pizzas and some wings, which he placed on the front seat of his GMC Yukon SUV. But as he veered onto westbound I-696 from an entrance ramp near Farmington Hills, plugging in his phone to play music, the pizzas started falling out of the box.

He looked down to try to catch the pizzas, but it was too late. He had a fistful of deep-dish pepperoni pizza.

"I remember it hitting my hands, and I'm like, 'Aw, shucks,'" Burleson recalled.

Then he looked up, realized he was closing in on a car ahead of him and braked while turning. That sent him into a fishtail, and he overcorrected into the median.

Burleson, 32, said it was the first major car accident of his life.

"I'll be honest, I'm the king of (multitasking while driving) -- or, I was," he said. "I don't want to sound like a public-service announcement -- like I said, I usually multitask a lot when I'm driving, and I've heard it all before. But that'll be the last time I do anything.

"It's the last time I'm going to touch my phone, or any device, while I'm driving."

Burleson said he wasn't drinking, despite the late hour, which coincides with the police report.

"The last thing I would have done was drink (and drive)," he said. "But I had pizza on my breath."

Multiple cars pulled over to assist Burleson, who was surveying the damage while a witness phoned 911. He said he thinks one of the drivers recognized who he was.

"I'm not an emotional guy, but I was damn near in tears," he said. "Coming off a good game, and just knowing the rhythm the offense had, with Calvin (Johnson) and myself and Matt (Stafford). And now hitting the reset button."

The receiver wasn't in much pain after the accident. He checked himself over as he climbed out of the vehicle and didn't realize the left arm was mangled until an emergency responder pulled up his left sleeve and discovered the wrist had "shifted."

"I don't know if it was the adrenaline, or what it was," Burleson said. "It didn't really hurt that much. I mean, I've had a lot of injuries man. This one wasn't that bad. Even today, I haven't taken any pain medication. Moving it around quite a bit, getting my strength back. These are good signs of what's to come."

Burleson underwent successful surgery Wednesday at Henry Ford Health System in West Bloomfield. Bill Moutzouros and S. Trent Guthrie were his surgeons.

He said he plans to attend Sunday's game against Chicago, and hopes to still break down the team in the end zone -- his usual role before games.

"I'll have to use my other hand, though," he said. "I want to be on the sideline. Still got to make sure my guys are ready for war, even if I'm not going to be on the battlefield with them."

Detroit is left to figure out how to replace Burleson's production. He had a team-best 19 catches for 239 yards through three games, and was coming off his best game as a Lion.

He had six catches for 116 yards on Sunday to help Detroit secure its first ever win in Washington. A day later, he suffered his second major injury in as many seasons.

"From the highest of the highs to the lowest of the lows," he said.

What's left is a busted forearm, but a fortitude unshaken. He's determined to play again this season. But he might have to find a new car.

"What's funny is, my wife went to go take pictures of the car, and she said there was pizza all over the bottom floorboard of the passenger seat," he said. "Told her she should have brought it home."