Estimate for Ellis' return now at least 2 months

LOS ANGELES -- The estimated recovery time of Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis has been extended to two months after an MRI revealed a medial collateral ligament sprain of the left knee.

Ellis already has had emergency surgery to relieve swelling in the left leg, which was injured last Friday in a takeout slide by Cardinals infielder Tyler Greene. Dodgers trainer Sue Falsone said surgery is not currently considered for the ligament sprain.

Falson said Ellis also has an accompanying blister capsule sprain and a bone contusion on the outside of the knee.

"He's not full weight bearing right now. He's on crutches. So it just depends on how many days it takes for him to get to that full weight bearing," she said. "There are a lot of factors here, and it's not like this is a common, everyday baseball injury that we see all the time. These are best estimates we can give based on tissue healing times. But every person is different so we are going to see how it goes."

Falsone stressed that because all of Ellis' injuries are trauma related -- and he has a long wound from the surgery -- healing time is uncertain.

"Right now we are letting everything heal up and let him recover from the trauma and begin some basic weight bearing exercises and range of motion type of stuff and progress," she said, adding that the healing of the wound and the knee sprain "both need healing time."