We knew it when the word "virus" first came out of Paul Holmgren's lips.

We knew it when we saw Chris Pronger doing an off-ice work out a few days later - because nobody with a nasty contagion would put his teammates at risk of catching the same illness by hanging around them in the Petri dish better known as a hockey locker room.

We knew it when Pronger first spoke to the media following the announcement of the virus and he debunked that diagnosis and said it wasn't a virus.

We knew.

The Flyers just chose not to acknowledge it - until today.

Pronger, who was already on the shelf until Christmas recovering from a minor surgery to clean out some loose bodies in his left knee, is now out of the lineup indefinitely with concussion-like symptoms.

Pronger will now see concussion specialists Dr. Joe Maroon and Dr. Mickey Collins, both of whom are based in Pittsburgh.

If the names sound familiar, they are - they are the same docs who dealt with Sidney Crosby's concussion and post-concussion symptoms.

And if their track record with precaution is any indication - it could be a good while before the Flyers captain returns to the ice.

Pronger did pass a baseline test recently, but that is no longer a tried and true indicator of whether a player has recovered.

Baseline tests compare your score post head trauma to a similar test taken pre-trauma, however, many athletes throw the initial test to have a lower cognitive score to attain while possibly dealing with a concussion.

"Over the last few days he's had some difficulties," Holmgren said. "A fairly persistent headache, just sluggish feeling - so we're just trying to do the right thing here and get him checked out."

Holmgren still wouldn't call the injury a concussion, saying "I don't know that we know that," but he sure had no problem calling this malady a virus, even though there's a far better chance of it being a concussion then there ever was it being a virus.

"I don't know that we'll ever know that (it wasn't a virus)," Holmgren said. "We didn't know what we were dealing with then and I'm not sure we do now."

The immediate reaction is to assume these symptoms are related to the eye injury he suffered in October, but Holmgren was quick to temper that belief too.

"He played four games after that particular incident after missing some time," Holmgren said. "I talked to him after the game in Winnipeg and he said he didn't feel great in that game. He didn't feel like himself...

"Just over the last two or three days he's got a fairly persistent headache and a really sluggish feeling."

Brayden Schenn, who is in the middle of a rookie year that he'd like to forget, is also out indefinitely with a mild concussion suffered, who took a blow to the face in Phoenix last week and said he doesn't feel like himself.

The Flyers aren't in a rush to add another defenseman, but Holmgren admitted that he talks to GM's all the time, so something could always "pop up" at any time.

But if it turns into a long-term thing....

"We'll see what happens over the next little while," Holmgren said. Hopefully we'll get some better news after Chris visits the doctors in Pittsburgh and we'll see what happens from there."