PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says the resilience Jack Watts has shown in resurrecting his career will help the much-maligned defender in his recovery from a potentially season-ending leg injury.

Watts was stretchered off on a medicab early in the last quarter of the Power's 16-point win against Carlton at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

Hinkley said Watts could miss the rest of the season if scans reveal he has a broken leg, while the best-case scenario is a high ankle sprain, which will see him likely sidelined for between six and eight weeks.

POWER SWITCH OFF BLUES Full match coverage and stats

"Jack's in a pretty serious way," Hinkley told reporters post-game.

"At the very least, (it is a) syndesmosis ankle sprain, which is a nasty injury, but most likely (it's a) broken leg, not dissimilar to Charlie Dixon, so that will be pretty challenging for Jack, but he's done such a great job to get to this point.

"Whether you do surgery or don't do surgery, most of our stuff is based around probably surgery in that space.

"So if you have surgery, you can at least kiss goodbye to at least the first half of the year and perhaps two-thirds of the year, so hopefully for Jack he gets back."

WATCH Ken Hinkley's post-match media conference

It's a devastating blow for the 28-year-old, who has fought his way back from off-field headlines to establish himself in a new role across half-back.

"He's worked so damn hard to get back to a point where he's just starting to build up some credits and good on him for sticking at it," Hinkley said.

"He's a resilient person. 

"You don't get through what he's been through in the past if you're not a resilient person, so he's going to call on that again with an injury."

The Power also face being without midfielder Karl Amon after sustaining medial ligament damage to his knee in the first quarter.

"We need to get the scan to see how severe that is, but you can expect he won't be playing for the next few weeks," Hinkley said.

ANALYSIS How the Power managed to 'weather the storm' against the Blues

Vice-captain Hamish Hartlett will be considered to replace Watts for the Power's game against Brisbane at the Gabba next Saturday night after another solid performance in the SANFL on Friday night.

Key defender Dougal Howard is also in the mix, while midfielders Sam Gray (36 disposals and four goals) and Jack Trengove (41 disposals) put their hand up for a senior recall.

Co-captain Ollie Wines is expected to be available in his first game back from shoulder surgery.