Leicester Tigers' director of rugby Richard Cockerill has lamented the injury suffered by Manu Tuilagi on Saturday.
The centre damaged a pectoral muscle during his side's 31-6 victory over Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership and has been sidelined for around two months.
"If it is not severe, then it will heal in its own time and that will be a shorter period of time than surgery," The Telegraph quotes Cockerill as saying. "Manu has a suspected torn pec muscle in his chest.
"He's going for further investigation and it is hard to tell how long he will be out, but it's going to be weeks leading to months potentially.
"These things happen. Hopefully, he will not be out for too long. Six to eight weeks at best, but it may be longer depending how much damage there is."
Tuilagi is expected to miss England's upcoming Autumn Internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.
