Sylvia was removed from the ground on a stretcher after landing awkwardly when collected by Port Adelaide's John Butcher while trying to take a mark.
He spent time in hospital in Adelaide and returned home in the company of club doctor Dan Bates.
He has been recuperating at home since.
Speaking for the first time since suffering the injury he told the Melbourne website that he took his first tentative steps this week with the aim of returning to the football field soon.
"I can sit in a chair, which I couldn't four or five days ago and I'm not just laying on the couch. I can get up and be a little bit more active now and walk around," said Sylvia. "I had a bit of a kick today on the training track so that was a bit of a positive."
Although he still holds out some hope he may be pain free and ready to play by round 3, he said themore realistic target date is round 4.
Sylvia said he landed with his legs slung to one side, which put pressure on the left side of his back. Footage of the incident shows him trying to stand after he hits the ground before slumping back to the ground in pain.
Melbourne officials have said since it was pleasing in the circumstances that no-one tried to move Sylvia before the doctors arrived. It allowed them to follow the correct process to ensure no further damage was done.
Sylvia said it is one of the worst injuries he has suffered in his career. "You can't really treat it…basically for the first week I was chained to my bed and couch," said Sylvia. "It is one of those injuries where you have just got to lay there and heel. You can't really do anything to speed that up."
Today he went for a 20-minute walk, did a touch session and kicked the football. "(It was) good to get out there and get the footy in the hands again because I did miss it, even if it was only a week and a half," he said.
Although Sylvia described his pre-season form as "not great", the 26-year-old is a critical component in the Demons' line-up. The No.3 draft selection (in 2003) is a game breaker with 121 games experience and, theoretically at least, about to enter the peak of his career.
Sylvia was due to miss round one anyway because of a club imposed suspension for an indiscretion before the pre-season began.
