Carlton veteran Sam Docherty concedes the playing group must accept blame for fierce criticism directed at the club over a horror run of losses that has sent the Blues' AFL season into freefall.
Michael Voss's men were competitive against Melbourne on Friday night and twice got within two kicks during the final term.
But they posted their lowest score of the season in an 8.13 (61) to 6.8 (44) defeat; their seventh in the last eight rounds.
The fifth consecutive loss will bring more heat on second-year coach Voss, who was expected to lead Carlton to a long-awaited finals berth this season.
They are now in danger of being effectively out of contention at their mid-season bye, with games against Essendon and Gold Coast at the MCG over the next fortnight.
"Us as players need to take the brunt of it," Docherty said.
"We're the ones out on the field, we do all the work during the week as a group to get us ready to play in these big games and it's on us to go out there and execute the plan and execute skills."
The Blues' on-field shortcomings have come amid off-field drama.
Board member Craig Mathieson quit this week after a heated argument with club president Luke Sayers following the defeat to Sydney in round 11.
Captain Patrick Cripps hit out at an incorrect media report that he stayed away from the team hotel around that game, while key forward Harry McKay's wayward goal-kicking has been under an intense spotlight.
"There's obviously a lot of narrative around the four walls but we tend to speak about the stuff that's important to us," Docherty said.
"I'll let (media) talk about the external narrative and everything that's going on outside of us.
"We've got a pretty strong focus on playing better footy at the moment and I think that's pretty obvious."
Despite the distractions and run of poor results, Docherty believes the Blues are on the same page and can still turn their fortunes around to salvage the season.
"As players we're pretty clear on the footy side that we want to be, and the system that we're running," Docherty said.
"We're all on board with that. It's been a collaborative process across the whole time that Vossy's been at the club.
"It's a matter of executing exactly what it is. We also play a pretty hard game against some pretty good footy sides and Melbourne was one of those tonight."
