Not only do the Highlanders have to contend this week with recovering from a heart-breaking 30-27 loss to the Crusaders on Saturday night at Forsyth Barr Stadium, but more replacement players will be needed as injuries continue to mount.
Openside flanker James Lentjes injured his elbow in the first minute of the game and left the field.
He has dislocated his left elbow and could be out for anything from six weeks to the rest of the season.
At least he made it to kick-off. Reserve hooker Adrian Smith tore his calf in the warm-up and was replaced on the bench by rookie Sekonaia Pole, who came on late in the game.
Smith is probably out for up to eight weeks and is the third hooker to go down in the squad, along with skipper Ash Dixon and Greg Pleasants-Tate.
Brown will be hunting round for another rake along with loose forwards.
Injuries were part of the game but they seem to be arriving at the Highlanders too regularly this season, being well into the double figures after just two games.
"When you get hit, you get hit in the same area. All our loosies are out, all our captains are out. We’re down to our sixth hooker. It is pretty sad really," Brown said.
Young Otago loose forward Dillon Hunt could be a starter, although he is green at the top level, while hookers are thin on the ground.
Otago rake Sam Anderson-Heather has made himself unavailable because of work commitments.
Brown, though, is not getting too down.
The Blues loom next Saturday night and with a slice of luck the Highlanders could have been two wins from two games instead of having two losses.
"You’ve got to get back on the horse and pull the trigger. They were all going to be big challenges against the four New Zealand teams.
"We probably should have won against the Chiefs, we probably should have won tonight. But that is footy and we will just move on and prepare for the Blues. They are going to be waiting for us after what happened to them last night."
Brown said the Highlanders displayed some nice attacking play and showed promising signs.
"Last week we didn’t execute anything. Tonight we did not get a lot but the good thing for me was everything we did all week with our plan, if a couple of things had gone our way in that second half, we would have won the game."
The Crusaders forward pack took over the game in the second half with a mountain of possession and could not be kept out.
In other games over the weekend, the Hurricanes humiliated the Rebels 71-6, the Brumbies lost 22-27 to the Sharks, the Kings beat the Sunwolves 37-23, the the Lions crushed the Waratahs 55-36, the the Stormers pipped the Jaguares 32-25 and the Cheetahs scrapped past the Bulls 34-28.