Travis Cloke's path back into the Collingwood team may not necessarily be cleared by the injury issues facing the Carlton back line this week.

The Magpies were encouraged by Cloke's effort in his second VFL match on the weekend, and coach Nathan Buckley indicated after the senior side's loss to West Coast that he could see him sharing the forward line with rookie Mason Cox.

The club may have the chance to stretch the Blues' defensive stocks on Saturday, with No.1 draft pick Jacob Weitering set to miss up to three weeks with a minor capsular injury to his right shoulder.

The teenager's potential replacement Michael Jamison in also in some doubt, given he sat out much of the Northern Blues' VFL match after landing badly from a marking attempt.

Weitering does not need surgery, and will let the inflammation in the shoulder settle over the next few days before starting a rehabilitation program.

"We will wait for the soreness to settle and then Jacob will focus on building the strength back into his shoulder before being considered to play, which at this stage, looks to be around two to three weeks," said the club's head of football Andrew McKay.

Weitering was optimistic on Monday that he would not miss too much football, saying he felt the shoulder slip out and back in after he lunged for a loose ball in the Bombers' goal square.

He received a knock to the head – as well as the shoulder damage – when he slid into Essendon forward Mitch Brown's leg.

"I've never had a serious injury before, so I'm hoping it's not too serious. The scans will show that up," he said before heading in for scans.

"There was a little bit of a slip out and slip in. I was lucky it went straight back in. I'll just talk to the doctors and physios at the club and then go from there."

The absence of both Weitering and Jamison could see the Blues rely on Sam Rowe, Lachie Plowman and Simon White against a Collingwood line-up that could feature all four of Cox, Cloke, Brodie Grundy and Darcy Moore.

But the feeling within Collingwood is that there would be little point bringing Cloke back into the side before he had regathered sufficient form and confidence, and was ready to play with genuine impact.

While Patrick Cripps is expected to return from a calf injury this week, Carlton had other concerns on Monday, with draftee Charlie Curnow set to spend some time on the sidelines after being diagnosed with glandular fever.

Curnow showed promise in his four games before missing the Essendon match, with the club expecting to know more about his condition and anticipated recovery time next week.

The teenager will miss at least the next month and joins fellow draftee Harry McKay – working to overcome a stress fracture in his back – on the out-of-action list.

"After Charlie was feeling run down last week, we got some tests done and results have confirmed this diagnosis," said McKay.

"We will monitor him closely over the next week or two which will give us a clearer indication of how long he will be sidelined for."

Collingwood had two main injury concerns out of the West Coast match, with Tom Langdon injuring an ankle and Ben Sinclair needing to prove he has overcome a head knock.

Sinclair has already missed some football this year through concussion, being withdrawn from the Anzac Day match after pulling up poorly from a head knock. He passed a concussion test on Sunday.

Travis Varcoe may be in line for a return, though he has missed just one match with a hamstring problem.