Sydney Roosters co-captain Jake Friend is looking at a spell on the sidelines after aggravating a shoulder issue in their NRL win over Parramatta.
Friend first picked up the injury in their season-opening defeat to South Sydney, which forced him to miss their round-two win over Manly.
He recovered in time to take the field against the Eels but immediately exited following an awkward attempted tackle on Mitchell Moses in the first half.
"I think we all saw what happened to Friendy. The neck got cranked in the wrong direction," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
"The reason he missed last week is the reason he couldn't finish the game, so that's really disappointing."
Robinson was resigned to losing his hooker for some time, which is likely to pave the way for rising talent Victor Radley to deputise in the No.9 next week.
The Roosters also have former Canberra rake Craig Garvey on the books.
"You want to get it right, you don't want to have a week off, then see that happen and not finish a game. He'll come back when it's right," Robinson said of Friend.
Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves also failed to complete the match after sustaining a rib cartilage injury in the first half.
Waerea-Hargreaves attempted to play through the pain in the second half, only to cop another blow and subsequently substituted.
However, Robinson suggested his front-rower would be able to front up, together with the expected return of Cooper Cronk, against Brisbane on Thursday.
"It'll be uncomfortable for a little while for him, but they usually can handle that," Robinson said of Waerea-Hargreaves.
Asked about Cronk's status for next week, Robinson said: "If he was 100 per cent right, he would've played tonight, so Sunday he'll be back into training.
"And I'm expecting him to be right for Thursday night."
