The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word LEFT FIELD
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
L
E
F
T
F
I
E
L
D
More clues leading to the result LEFT FIELD
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "U/nconventional/what injured player did" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case u/nconventional/what injured player did = left field.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.