Today Auston Matthews spoke to the media for the first time since returning to practice while injured and he made some concerning comments about his recovery. Auston Matthews has been dealing with this upper-body injury for almost 3 months now and has been out since <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/toronto-maple-leafs/new-video-shows-the-exact-moment-auston-matthews-re-injured-himself-against-the-buffalo-sabres' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'> re-aggravating the injury against the Buffalo Sabres.</a> Since he reinjured himself Matthews had been away from the team and had not spoken to the media leading many to speculate on just how serious his injury is. Today, Matthews finally spoke to the media and gave an update on his recovery and potential return to the lineup. According to Matthews, the team is currently taking things day by day and they hope to have a clearer picture of when he can return within the next week. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1874517503407485406'> </a></blockquote></div> In addition to this head coach Craig Berube confirmed Matthews would not be returning in the Maple Leafs next game. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1874507095590293551'> </a></blockquote></div> While Matthews seemed confident he would be returning sooner rather than later he was much less confident that he would be fully healthy when he does make his eventual return. <h3>Auston Matthews gives an ominous answer about being fully healthy when he returns</h3> After being asked about when he could return to the lineup Matthews was also asked if he believes he will be able to fully move past the current injury at some point this season. Matthews while optimistic revealed that he is genuinely unsure if he will be fully healthy at some point this season again. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/1874535933099557138'> </a></blockquote></div> This is a major switch up from Matthews, Craig Berube, Brad Treliving, and the Maple Leafs as prior to this point the message had always been that a full recovery was the eventual goal. Now it seems that Matthews is just trying to heal good enough to play through the injury he has suffered. Over the next week, there will likely be follow-up questions regarding this answer from Matthews and we will hopefully learn exactly how close to 100% Matthews is and can be. Either way, the news of a potential return in the coming weeks is great for the Maple Leafs overall as long as Matthews can be effective and impactful upon his return.