I don't know if this is an ongoing injury or not but I do know, because I had a similar injury, that the impact he took on his head forcing his chin into his chest can result in compression of the vertebrae and nerve impingement. When it happened to me I had pain in my neck and arm for weeks and only a regimen of physical therapy and traction treatment relieved the throbbing pain I felt all the way down to my finger tips. My left arm was weak too. I could not pick up a glass of water. However, in time I felt normal again. The difference is, I was not playing football and getting my skull pushed into my chest all the time. I suspect additional contact will produce the same result. LVE has access to round the clock doctors and treatments. I am sure they can get him some relief in a couple of weeks or 3. But, the issue will be what happens if he takes another hit like that.
I have not read enough about his issue, but unless there is some other problem with his neck, like a chronic condition, I see no reason why, at his age, he cannot get back to 100% in the offseason.
From a football perspective, Lee has hid best game in years against the Giants when LVE was out before. Let's hope he does the same thing this week. BUt you know Belechick is going to figure out how to exploit LVE's absence. I am guessing a lot of short passes over the middle.