I found this from a study of NFL players:
NFL players and other elite athletes represent a unique population who have better access to therapy and rehabilitation and who also have a significant financial motivation to return, so it is not surprising that their time to RTS is much different than what has been previously reported for recreational athletes or for other sports. Additionally, the NFL game structure allows for periods of rest (offense vs defense) and free substitution that are not afforded in other professional sports, such as soccer or rugby. Also, some NFL positions, such as down lineman, involve much less running and agility maneuvers compared to other sports. In NFL athletes, days missed due to injury were related to the injury pattern (isolated fibula fracture vs combined pattern) and whether surgery was required for the injury. The mean days missed for all fibula fractures was 101 days, and there was a significantly quicker time to RTS (75 days) for players who did not undergo surgery compared to those who required surgery (123 days). This could be caused by many factors and should not be construed as a recommendation to manage fibula fractures in the NFL nonoperatively, as it is likely that fractures with less displacement were managed nonoperatively and those with higher energy or greater displacement or instability were managed operatively. This assertion was corroborated by the finding that combined patterns had significantly greater mean missed days compared to isolated fibula fracture patterns. Additionally, the majority of distal fibula fractures were isolated injuries, which suggests a lower energy injury mechanism than what is commonly seen in a trauma population.
RTS = Return to Sport
If Oscar is having surgery then it suggests his return may be around 4 months from now all going well. Hopefully all being well early in the new year. He is very unlucky if he has suffered this without having any contact as the study also shows that is pretty uncommon.
