Th 24-year-old's faint hopes of featuring for the Maroons in this year's State of Origin series were officially dashed on Tuesday when the severity of his injury was confirmed.
Gilbert missed all of 2024 with a knee reconstruction and a large portion of 2023 with a shoulder injury suffered during his second Origin appearance.
There was hope this complaint would not keep him off the park for long, but on Tuesday the Dolphins spun a potential round 24 return for their captain as good news.
"These type of rehabilitations always have some variables," Dolphins head of performance Jeremy Hickmans said.
"But if Tom was able to come back somewhere around that 12-week time frame he would certainly be in line to play some games at the back end of the season.
"In previous seasons he has shown how diligent he is with his rehabilitation and that will also be a factor."
The Dolphins (4-7) are 14th on the ladder as they hunt a maiden finals appearance in their third NRL season.
Meanwhile, Roosters prop Naufahu Whyte is set to miss the next month of action with a knee issue.
Whyte, who has been in career-best form this season, suffered a medial ligament injury in last week's loss to Canterbury but will avoid surgery.Â
The Roosters say halfback Sam Walker has now reintegrated into full squad training after missing the start of the year with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
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