6 weeks? 10 weeks? Explaining why Lamar Jackson’s return timeline is so unsettled.

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There is no easy way to simulate what happened to Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s right thumb two weeks ago. There is no easy way to approximate the pain, either.

But there is a demographic that can relate better than most to the experience of smacking your hand against an onrushing pass rusher’s arm and feeling something give: skiers. The broken and dislocated thumb that Ravens coach Jesse Minter said Jackson suffered in a Nov. 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills is a risk common on the slopes, too.

One such injury, in which the ligament on the inside of the thumb’s main knuckle is strained or torn, is known as skier’s thumb. The injury most often occurs when a person lands on an outstretched hand while holding a ski pole, or when a ski pole becomes stuck in the snow and the thumb is driven into what’s known as hyperabduction — the pronounced movement of a body part beyond its normal range of motion.

Jackson, a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, has his own mountain to scale. Minter said in a statement Friday that thumb injuries like Jackson’s typically take about six to 10 weeks to heal after surgery. The Ravens (4-5) are eight weeks away from the end of the regular season and enter Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers in last place in the AFC North.

“He is doing everything he can to get back, and we will let his progress guide the timing of his return,” said Minter, who acknowledged that recovery timelines are “challenging to predict.”

Jackson’s timetable depends, in part, on the type of fracture he suffered, the severity of the fracture and the severity of the dislocation, said Dr. M. Brian Polsky, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist with The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics in Maryland.

Polsky, who is not involved in Jackson’s treatment, said that even complex fractures can be fixed relatively simply. Ligament damage, which often accompanies a broken thumb or thumb dislocation, can be a bigger factor in determining rehabilitation schedules. If Jackson’s injury were a complex fracture with damage to multiple ligaments, Polsky said his recovery would likely take longer than 10 weeks.

But he acknowledged that six to 10 weeks is a “pretty wide range” for a return estimate.

“The ligament is definitely more the thing they’re going to have to keep an eye on,” Polsky said.

Jackson “almost certainly” ruptured his thumb’s ulnar collateral ligament, said Polsky, pointing to the nature of the injury. The UCL stabilizes the base of the thumb, near the palm, and supports grip and hand strength. Nerve damage, in Jackson’s case, is “very unlikely,” he added.

After UCL surgery, thumbs are typically immobilized in a hard cast for about six weeks, then reexamined. Even then, Polsky said, Jackson might still need more time.

“Even though the ligament may be healed, you don’t magically have all your normal strength and stamina,” Polsky said.

At the base of the thumb, forming a fleshy bulge known as the thenar eminence, are three short muscles responsible for the thumb’s fine motor movements, including grabbing and gripping objects. After a month or two of inactivity, those muscles will have atrophied, Polsky said.

Depending on his recovery, Jackson could have the opportunity to work on his grip strength earlier than expected. But that would still leave him with “a lot of work to do,” Polsky said. “That’s what that [recovery] window probably is really pointing to.”

Typically, players recovering from surgery are not cleared to play until their thumb is structurally stable and no longer tender, and until their grip strength has returned to at least near-normal levels.

The Ravens cannot afford to rush Jackson back; the thumb is the most important digit for gripping and throwing a football, Polsky said. But every week without Jackson is a week without one of the NFL’s best players — and a week with more questions about when he might come back.

“People want exact answers. I think they [the Ravens] know the answers, but unfortunately, the public doesn’t,” Polsky said. “So I think we’re going to have to wait and be patient and see what he can do.”