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We know Rory McIlroy will not play the Dubai Desert Classic next week on the European Tour, but on Tuesday, he revealed to Fox Sports' Shane Bacon that he will likely miss the entire month of February as well. He is eyeing a March 2 return at the WGC-Mexico Championship.

"I'm trying to get back for Mexico," said McIlroy on the Clubhouse Podcast. "That's my timetable for return. I could probably get back before that. For example, if I were to play Honda [the Honda Classic in late February] and then go straight to Mexico, I would be playing two weeks in a row.

"I'd like to ease my way back in gently. Mexico is the perfect time to return because it's four rounds, there's no cut. I can see how everything feels. I have a week off after that. All signs pointed towards Mexico being the one I could come back to and be 100 percent comfortable at. Hopefully it work out that way, and that's when I'm back."

This means McIlroy, who played the South African Open in January with this injury, would not play the Genesis Open and Honda Classic in February. The entire point here is for McIlroy to be ready for Augusta and the 2017 Masters in April. McIlroy discussed how his rehab has been going after he first felt like he hurt himself in December.

"I've been walking. I can't even run at the minute because if my feet hit the ground hard at all the vibration in my rib cage sort of hurts. I've been walking quite a bit. I've been walking 5-6 miles a day. I putted today for the first time. That's the first little bit of golf I've done since I found out about this injury.

"[The injury] probably started before Christmas. I hit a lot of balls in the offseason testing equipment, and I'm trying to make a little bit of a swing change as well. My takeaway was getting a little bit behind me at the start of the swing so I was trying to make sure the club stayed in front of me on the way back.

"On one of the drills I was doing, I was reaching a little bit with my left arm and extending. That's basically what we think has happened. The combination of trying to make that small tweak in my swing and hitting a lot of balls. Testing drivers. Testing balls. The muscles basically said, 'We worked hard, we don't want to work anymore.' That puts stress on the joint. The joint is like, 'I don't like this either.' There's a lot of stress and a just little bit of a fracture."

That's unfortunate because McIlroy was coming off a heater in the fall in which he won the Tour Championship, FedEx Cup and nearly burned the Ryder Cup to the ground. He was primed for a truly stellar 2017. The season is a long one, though, and there is plenty of time for McIlroy to make a full recovery. Just don't expect to see him again until March.

You can hear the entire interview starting at 4:30 here (and you should because it's great).