Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams could miss his second straight game on Monday night against the Detroit Lions. The Packers’ top target in the passing game is dealing with a turf toe injury he first suffered against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 26.

So, what is turf toe, and how long will it affect Adams?

Packers Wire asked Dr. Dustin Schuett, an orthopaedic surgeon based in San Diego, for more information on the injury and how it may affect Adams:

What’s a turf toe and how can you get turf toe on grass?

Great question. Turf toe is an injury to the big toe on the plantar (bottom) side of the toe at the base where the metatarsal bone and the proximal (closest) phalanx of the big toe articulate. This joint is called the metatarsophalangeal joint or MTP joint. When the big toe is forcibly dorsiflexed (pushed up towards the toenail; think of the position of the big toe for a sprinter getting ready to start a race), ligaments, tendons and joint capsule on the bottom of the MTP joint can be stretched and even torn.

How bad is it?

Turf toe injuries are graded on a scale of 1-3, with 3 being the most severe.

Grade 1 injuries are a stretch injury of the plantar (bottom of the foot) structures with pain at one specific spot. Players can sometimes get these taped and return to the same game. Rarely is significant time missed.

Grade 2 injuries are a partial tearing of the plantar structures. Hopefully this is what Adams has. This is usually treated in a walking boot and return to play is in the 1-2 week range.

Grade 3 injuries are a complete tear of the plantar structures most notably with a tear of the plantar plate. These are extremely painful and usually will make an athlete miss several weeks. If he has a grade 3, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect him to be out for six weeks or more. He may return before then but potentially with significant pain.

What’s the worst-case scenario?

Sometimes the plantar tissues can retract or pull back away from their normal position in a grade 3 turf toe injury. This is the worst-case scenario and usually requires surgical repair. This is the surgery A.J. Green had on his toe last December. This surgery typically means a 12-week recovery minimum, which would essentially end the season for Adams. He would have had surgery already, so that likely means he didn’t have that problem.

Best guess?

Based on the duration it’s taking Adams to return he likely had either a more severe grade 2 or a grade 3 injury. If he has a grade 2, it’s basically getting him back to a level of pain control/comfort that he can play through. Very often the medical staff will inject numbing medication (like novocaine at the dentist) into the MTP joint before games and see if he can go. They’ll likely tape his toe to reinforce it and he’ll probably have a metal/carbon fiber orthosis in his shoe when he goes back to playing.

This injury is more of an issue for speed players like Adams because the big toe is key for push off when accelerating. His ability to push off and accelerate will likely be limited the remainder of the season. Most players who have significant plantar plate injuries (turf toe) don’t get back to their baseline until the following season. Adams will very likely be back this season, and potentially very soon, but his suddenness and acceleration may be limited.

He likely won’t practice much if at all before he plays. In a photo Rob Demovsky tweeted out Friday, Adams was wearing tennis shoes and not a walking boot or hard soles shoe, which is actually a very good sign. Adams very well may play Monday against the Lions. This may not be decided until just before the game when they see how well he can go with the injection, tape and orthosis combined.

Editors note: An earlier version of this story explained the injury mechanism as forcibly plantar flexed. It has been corrected to show forcibly dorsiflexed.