THE BRISBANE Lions and Jonathan Brown can breathe a sigh of relief after the champion forward was cleared of any structural damage to his face following another head collision on Saturday night.
Brown was carted off the field early in the third quarter of the Lions' 45-point loss against GWS after being accidentally collected by the right hip of Giants defender Tomas Bugg in a marking contest.
Brown lay on the ground holding the left side of his face, was helped off by doctors and then subbed out by Zac O'Brien minutes later.
But Lions coach Justin Leppitsch confirmed after the match that aside from a dose of concussion and a "shiner", Brown was fine.
"I think he's ok. I don't think there's anything long-term," Leppitsch said.
It was just another in a string of head injuries for Brown.
In 2011 he suffered shocking facial fractures after incidents involving Fremantle's Luke McPharlin in round one, teammate Mitch Clark in round 17 and then Matt Maguire in 2012 pre-season training.
Leppitsch admitted his heart skipped a beat when Brown first went to ground.
"Obviously everyone was a bit concerned because of that (his history)," he said.
"Hopefully it's nothing too big. I think there's enough metal in there, hopefully it's ok to hold together. It's not ideal for him to get a head knock."
Brown kicked two goals in the first half and the Lions fell apart after he left the field, but Leppitsch refused to blame that for the loss.
Jonathan Brown shows the effects of his head knock against the Giants. Picture: AFL Media
