It may have been shared in a previous post but I was unable to find. I promised starts and 15 minutes. 12 games in, 12 starts, averaging 20 minutes per game he suffers an injury dropping his health to 50. I've rested him 2 games, health is now at 65. Will a player complain about starts and minutes if it's due to injury? Based on the health progression so far, it may be another 4 games or so before he gets to 90 or above. I don't want to put him back in the lineup too early and risk further injury but I also don't want his development to plummet or risk transfer because starts and minutes aren't honored due to injury. What is the rule of thumb and best course of action?

I think I have read somewhere on these forums that they expect to play when they get to 80% health. A more seasoned coach will have to back me up on that though.

I think they expect to play at 60% - but it isnt great to play them until around 80% - depending on your specific roster and situation.

At least as of a couple of years ago, it was regarded widely as annoying that guys would start to be peeved if they didnt start/play even though they were way low on effectiveness

60% is correct. So once they hit 60% health those games and minutes count towards promises.

Agreeing that 60 is now the number (it used to be 80 prior to it being dropped). Generally I bury them on the chart if they're 60-75 so they just get a few scrap minutes (it makes the averages easier to sustain). If you've promised a start, you will have to calculate how fast the kid is healing and could have to bite the bullet and start him sooner than the health would dictate (I usually don't return to a starting spot until they're 85-90ish if I can help it...depending on quality back-up options) in which case set to "take out earlier" in the foul trouble column and set to "fairly fresh" in the fatigue column to ensure the kid gets hauled off the floor as much as possible (assuming you're on fatigue settings rather than minutes for a substitution method)

This definitely helps. If memory serves, 80% is the magical percentage to keep players content about starts. If so, I think I sit him two more games. He went from 50 to 60 to 65 over 2 games. First game was a freebie. Sit out two more starts. 16 team games, 12 of 15 he started, not counting one game where he was at 50 health. Averaging 20 minutes over 12 games, he would be at 15 over 16 games. Consequently I need to make him a starter again for game 17 and average 15 minutes moving forward to avoid a development hit and risk transfer.

The "magical percentage to keep players content about starts" varies somewhat from player to player. The same is true of minutes. Some players are very particular, and you wouldn't want to fall behind your promise with them, even if you could make it up later, or they'll be PO'd. Some players don't seem to even remember that they were promised something. The majority of players are not at either of those extremes. Your decision should take into account his value to your team going forward. One tool available to you is to start him a game or two at low minutes in order to keep up with your promised starts. Good luck.