Essendon buckle under pressure, their defence isn't up to AFL standard and it's on the players, not coach Brad Scott, to fix it.
That's the message from senior Bomber Kyle Langford after a humiliating 63-point loss to Port Adelaide plunged Essendon to a 0-2 start and into the brutal AFL spotlight.
It prompted Scott to lash his "demoralised" team for being "not hard-nosed enough in defence".
After conceding 157 marks to Hawthorn, Essendon, who lost their final 13 games of 2025, gave up 165 marks to the Power.
"As a team, we need to be better. Our team defence isn't up to an AFL standard and we've seen that - I think we've conceded over 300 marks over the last two weeks," Langford said.
"So it's not individuals, it's us, it's all of us. We're all in this together and that's something that we're going to continually work on and try and improve."
Langford was adamant work rate and selfishness weren't the issues, instead believing Essendon struggled to execute.
"I don't think it's selfishness - that's a pretty strong word - but I think we do have a group that when the pressure's on us, we might buckle a little bit and I think we've seen that," Langford said.
"We probably go away from what we want to do in offence and defence and it's human nature - fight or survive. And we're probably in that survival instinct right now.
"So as this week progresses, we're gonna fight. We've got North Melbourne Saturday night. It's round two. There's a lot of footy to be played."
Skipper Andrew McGrath called a players-only meeting after Sunday's loss, which Langford said was about "taking ownership".
"It starts with us leaders ... us leaders of the group, we're not playing the footy that we want," Langford, 29, said.
"So first we need to look at ourselves in the mirror and go to work on our own areas, and then bring up the group with the rest of us."
When asked whether Scott's messaging was clear, a forthright Langford said: "Yeah, it's pretty clear."
Langford said 2026, his 12th year at Essendon, was the best he'd felt about the group's direction, praising Scott for changing the culture.
"He's done everything he can, now it's on to us players," he added.
Langford was adamant there wasn't a fallout from ex-captain Zach Merrett's failed attempt to leave for Hawthorn.
He revealed Merrett, who stepped down in November, had joined Tuesday's leadership group's meeting.
"He's right in it amongst us. He's not shying away from everything. He knows he needs to improve as well in certain areas, as we all do. But no, he's right amongst it with us," Langford said.
"He's not back in it (the leadership group) but he's a leader of this group, he's been a captain of this football club.
"... Zach's got so much experience. He's our most experienced, our eldest player.
"His insights would be lost if we didn't include him in a lot of these chats."
Australian Associated Press
