Right after Jason Kelce’s surgery was completed, Jeff McLane laid out his recovery time at 6-8 weeks which would have made him available for the week 10 game against the Panthers at the earliest. It looks like Kelce is shooting for the low end on that recovery time.

Kelce called into WIP this morning and told the morning show that his goal is to be back right around the Panthers game, “maybe a little bit sooner would be preferable, but you never know with these surgeries.” He said the injury felt like a “piece of paper being ripped” which cannot feel good, and continued:

“I’ve been playing with some pain in that area for pretty much the whole season this year, and that’s not uncommon. A lot of guys play through these sports hernias before they get really bad—I shouldn’t call a sports hernia, the core abdominal injury. That’s what I’ve been told to call it.”

Kelce’s sports her core abdominal injury thrust David Molk into the spotlight, and he’ll make his first NFL start this week in San Francisco.