Melbourne's star defender Steven May has been cleared of major internal damage after fracturing the same ribs he injured earlier in the AFL season.
May was taken to hospital on Friday night after he was hurt in a heavy second-quarter collision with Bulldogs forward Laitham Vandermeer.
The 32-year-old was substituted out of the game in a setback that compounded the Demons' woes as a 51-point thrashing left their finals hopes hanging by a thread.
Melbourne football boss Alan Richardson confirmed May had sustained rib fractures in the incident.
"Pleasingly, there are no internal or underlying issues related to the injury," Richardson said in a statement.
"Steven has since been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at home."
May missed one match after a similar incident involving Hawthorn's Mabior Chol in March and is in doubt for Melbourne's must-win game against Port Adelaide next round.
"The injury he sustained is to the same ribs he injured earlier in the year," Richardson said.
"The club's medical team will continue to monitor Steven closely, with a return-to-play timeline to be determined in the coming days.
"Steven's well-being is our main priority, and we will support him through his recovery."
Melbourne will end the round two wins and percentage outside the top eight with just three games left to play.
They host Port Adelaide at the MCG on Saturday night before ending the season with games away to Gold Coast and home against Collingwood.
Meanwhile, North Melbourne's unlucky defender Griffin Logue is set to undergo surgery on his injured wrist and will miss the rest of the season.
Logue had played just two matches on return from a long-term knee injury before hurting the wrist and missing the Kangaroos' 13-point win over Richmond.
"He's ruptured a ligament in his wrist and he'll require surgery on that, that he'll have this week sometime," North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson said.
"He'll miss the last part of the year, which is unfortunate, but that's the brutal nature of our game.
"We're really pleased for Griff that, albeit it was only two games, that he did get himself back.
"Those two games he played, he played against possibly the two best forwards in the competition and really competed strongly against both those guys (Carlton's Charlie Curnow and Geelong's Jeremy Cameron)."
North Melbourne will also be without young gun George Wardlaw (concussion) for the clash with West Coast in Hobart on Saturday.
Wardlaw suffered delayed symptoms last week and will miss a second game under concussion protocols.