Keith Earls' hopes of being involved at some stage in this year's Six Nations now look slim.
Earls suffered a hamstring injury in the build-up to Ireland's championship opener against Wales, and returned to the Munster set-up last week ahead of the loss to France.
"He's in and around the place at the moment so he's part of our leadership group," said Reds attack coach Stephen Larkham.
"He is contributing as much as he can along those lines.
"He's in a longer-term rehab programme at the moment, so when are we expecting him back? Not for the short-term.
"Once he gets out of, sort of, four or five weeks, then the timeline can be very variable based on how they respond in the first couple of weeks.
"It's early days with the injury so we've got to see how he progress over these first couple of weeks and then make a decision after that."
However Larkham was extremely pleased with how Reds no 10 Joey Carbery dealt with his first Six Nations start last weekend.
"I thought it was very good," said the former Aussie out-half of Carbery's display in Paris.
"The most important thing from a 10's perspective is how he kicks the ball and I thought he didn't let us down there, tremendous with his goal kicks.
"I'm enjoying watching them (Ireland) play.
"From an attacking perspective, it's quite exciting when they've got ball in hand and I think Joey fit into that system quite well."
As for Munster's return to South Africa for two rescheduled URC games next month, after the squad and coaching staff were hit by Covid in November and early December, Larkham said the Reds are "mostly happy" with the arrangements.
A group had to remain behind in quarantine in Cape Town at the time after getting Covid.
"We're still chasing some of those protocols," he said.
"We have had a few reassurances there that things are going to work out better if something like that happens again.
"There is obviously still that hangover of the anxiety but the games are going ahead so we're well and truly aware of that and making every provision to get over there."
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