Now the club have confirmed that the timescale for his return could be as long as eight weeks away....but......
If Francis were to a wear a fibre protective facial mask he could return to match action a lot sooner.
"If he doesn't wear a facial mask he will be out for six or eight weeks to allow it to heal-up," Canaries physio Neal Reynolds told the clubs official website.
"The surgeon is quite happy for him to play with a mask.
"But it comes down to Damien. He has to be comfortable with it. They are not very comfortable and you can have a loss of some vision."