Queensland's brutal loss to the Brumbies is threatening to derail their Super Rugby title charge with almost half their backline wiped out in Saturday night's 22-14 upset.

Key backs Anthony Faingaa (hamstring) and Ben Lucas (knee) are battling to play in the competition again while tackle-busting winger Digby Ioane will miss at least a week after being knocked out cold at Suncorp Stadium.

Defensive linchpin Faingaa is the most worrying after suffering a grade two hamstring strain which is expected to see him sidelined for at least a month and have him racing time to make it back for the July 9 final at best.

Lucas damaged his medial cruciate ligament and is facing three to four weeks off.

Highlighting the pair's courage, both continued on after going down with their injuries while standout Faingaa played out the entire last 15 minutes in "excruciating pain" - even pulling off a rib-rattling cover tackle on Nic White.

The former Brumbies centre hasn't given up hope of returning for a preliminary final appearance but was unsure whether he further damaged his hamstring by desperately playing on as the Reds attempted to come from behind.

"I wasn't coming off, there was no way I was coming off," Faingaa told AAP. "You do whatever it takes to win.

"I'd seen a couple of boys go down and kept going and didn't realise how bad it was until the end of the game."

Reds mentor Ewen McKenzie rates Faingaa one of the best body-on-the-line players he has ever coached and praised the four-Test centre for his bravery.

"You can't say enough about his character and that's what really defines people and with his character you can't say a bad word about Anthony," McKenzie said.

While halves Quade Cooper and Will Genia pull the strings for the Reds, Faingaa and Lucas are key backline defenders - usually positioning themselves in the 10-12 channel - and are almost irreplaceable.

Compounding McKenzie's problems is the fact Kiwi recruit Mike Harris, who has started at both inside centre and fullback this season, is still at least another week away from returning from knee surgery.

Queensland had been fortunate to go through the first half of the competition with minimal injuries but they now have a mounting casualty ward which also includes influential flanker Beau Robinson and wingers Peter Hynes and Rod Davies.

Davies is back running after knee surgery and may soften the blow of losing Ioane, who was felled by a high tackle from Brumbies No.8 Ita Vaea.

With Luke Morahan set to move from the wing to fullback to cover Lucas's loss, McKenzie admitted he may have to get "creative" with his backline selections due to his thinning depth.

But the coach would not use the collateral damage from the rare home loss, which has put a top-two finals berth in jeopardy, as a potential roadblock to a title charge.

"That's what happens, it is what it is. We'll just soldier on," he said.

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