I think we need to brace ourselves,

Brace yourselves -- Honda won't be far behind.

It's like when you know something bad is coming. You know it's coming, so you brace for it. But then when it comes, it's still somehow worse than you expected.

I would say a brace should be a secondary consideration,

I never played with a brace on, and it was very irritating. I couldn't move with it on.

One's in a shoulder sling and the other's in a knee brace.