OSCAR McInerney is "unlikely" to face Essendon on Thursday night, with Brisbane coach Chris Fagan wanting his banged-up ruckman to return fresh and "feeling good about himself".

McInerney has been absent for matches against Melbourne and Hawthorn, with Grand Final hero Darcy Fort admirably filling his boots, and looks like missing a third game.

The Lions have described his issues as general soreness, but former skipper Dayne Zorko mentioned in his press conference on Tuesday that McInerney had been dealing with back problems.

When asked about his first-choice ruckman on Wednesday, Fagan said he was erring on the side of caution.

"He trained really well yesterday, it's the best he's moved in ages," Fagan said.

"It's probably unlikely he'll play. We'll give him another week.

"I was really buoyed by the way he went about his training yesterday, he looked so much better than he's looked in a while.

"It's probably me more than anyone giving him a little more time to be honest, because he was banged up, physically and mentally.

"When you're physically banged up it starts to affect you mentally and I want him to come back fresh and feeling good about himself, so I'm happy to give him another week."

He's not the only Lion that needs another week on the sidelines, with Keidean Coleman to miss a second straight match after suffering swelling in his reconstructed knee.

The talented half-back made his return from an ACL injury against Melbourne two weeks ago, but is still not right to go again.

"His knee has swelled up after his first game. That's not unusual," Fagan said.

"Scans didn't reveal anything, it's just a reaction to more stress and more effort. He's improved, but not enough to play.

"We expect him to be OK in the next week or two."

Brisbane is sitting second on the ladder ahead of hosting the Bombers and is keen to improve its Gabba record for the season that stands 3-2.

"We did talk about it this week how we want to make teams feel really uncomfortable about coming up here to play, and at this point in time that's probably a question," Fagan said.