For Lucas, one of the biggest challenges during his time off, aside from the actual physical work, was some of the misinformation circulating about his injury and the timeline for his return, leading some to believe he was behind schedule when he wasn’t not really the case.

“I think the most annoying thing for me was probably – how do I say this clearly – there were a lot of people around me who thought they knew what happened who don’t know what happened, and still no one really knows what happened , because I never really said anything,” Lucas says. “But people jumped to conclusions, and with that comes a lot of questions that people have, which I don’t answer, because I don’t want to answer them.”

Asked if that led to the perception that he was behind schedule in his recovery, Lucas said: “Spoiler, I wasn’t.”

Lucas later added, “The injury itself was a little weird. The way it happened and how it came up was a little weird, I guess. I didn’t come all at once, and it’s not chronic — for anyone who thinks it’s chronic, because people have told me – it’s not a chronic injury. It was a serious injury, but it fixed and I rehabbed it, so I’m still on track.”

And the hope is that after the surgery and this rehab process, the injury will be behind him, although Lucas knows that nothing is guaranteed in this sport, least of all health.

“I hope (the injury is behind me), that was the point of (the surgery),” he said. “But we’re going to walk away from here, we’re going to keep improving, and fingers crossed, God willing, nothing like this ever happens again and my career is injury free. I know those chances are pretty slim to none, because it’s a violent game Sometimes you get hurt, sometimes (things) happen and you can’t really control it, but I’m positive and improving.”