The Milwaukee Bucks will be without a key rotation player for several months as Jae Crowder will undergo surgery to repair “a left adductor and abdominal tear,” according to the team.

Crowder exited the Bucks’ loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday with what was initially called a left groin strain. The 33-year-old Marquette University alumnus flew to Philadelphia to be examined Monday by Dr. Bill Meyers, who specializes in core muscle injuries.

Crowder will undergo surgery Tuesday and the team said he will be out for about eight weeks.

“Obviously it’s going to be hard not to have him," Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said Monday night after the Bucks' victory over the Chicago Bulls. "His presence is very important to the team. He’s extremely vocal, helps everybody be in the right position, encourages everybody, motivates everybody.

"At the same time he’s had a great start to the season spacing out the floor for us, being great defensively, making great plays offensively. So he’s definitely going to be missed.

"But again, talked to him a little bit, wish him fast recovery. I hope everything went well and we’re going to miss him. We’re gonna see him in eight weeks. He’s going to be back soon.”

Crowder has appeared in all nine games (two starts) and is averaging 8.1 points on 51.6% shooting from behind the three-point line in 26.7 minutes per game. He has been a key defender for the Bucks also in Griffin’s new ball pressure schemes.

"He's a tremendous piece of what we're trying to do moving forward, but from what I'm told it's approximately eight weeks and he'll be back," Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin said. "He'll be back way before the playoffs to get the rhythm back. This happens in sports, so we just gotta stay positive and look at the bright side and that's other guys going to be able to get some minutes and help this team win."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks forward Jae Crowder to have surgery, miss about 8 weeks