A week out from round one, Collingwood small forward Jamie Elliott remains unsure when he will return to the AFL from a back problem.

The Magpies’ leading goalkicker last season plans to start running again on Monday as he recovers from a vertebra problem.

Elliott said Collingwood’s fitness staff had eased his workload at training for four weeks to let his back settle.

Late last month, the `Pies announced Elliott was sidelined with the problem and gave no indication when he would return.

Elliott admitted on Wednesday that not having a potential comeback date had worried him at first.

“Initially that probably did play on my mind a lot,” he said.

“I wanted to rush back – try to run, try to kick.

“It wasn’t really doing it for me, so that’s why the plan was to de-load me and get it right.”

Elliott said coach Nathan Buckley and captain Scott Pendlebury had suffered from the same condition, known as pars defect, so he had picked their brains.

“It’s just a week-by-week thing, to see how it tracks and pulls up,” he said.

“I will be out there as soon as I can and hopefully that’s not too far (away).”