England full-back Mike Brown may miss the 2017 autumn internationals after re-aggravating an ankle injury against Leicester on Saturday.
Brown played the full match but was forced to wear a protective boot after the game.
He underwent a scan on Wednesday which confirmed he will not need surgery, but the extent of the injury, and the length of his layoff is still unknown.
Harlequins director of rugby John Kingston said: “He has been away with England for two or three days and they have done some treatment on it. He is not fit to play this weekend.
“It’s clearly something that’s not quite right and therefore, after he’s re-aggravated it, it’s better to leave it a bit and give it some more time.”
This news will come as a blow for England head coach Eddie Jones, who has started Brown in all but one of his games in charge of England.
The Quins man has made 27 Six Nations appearances for England and is clearly the Australian’s preference in the full-back role.
“Mike Brown is the first-choice fullback for England in my book and people will always say ‘who are the competitors?’ – that is the nature of the business.” said Kingston.
“He wants to play well for England, he wants to be involved in the World Cup.
“It would be a big mistake to write him off.”
Should the full-back not return to fitness in time for the upcoming autumn internationals, Jones will likely look to Anthony Watson or Eliot Daly to replace him.
However, Watson missed this week’s England training camp in Oxford as he is currently sidelined with a knee injury.
This could leave Jones with a potential selection headache for the upcoming match against Argentina on November 11.
