The Demons' poor start to the season, with losses to St Kilda and West Coast, has in part been caused by a lack of talls and key position players.
And there will be no relief for Melbourne when they face Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.
Chris Dawes, Jesse Hogan, Col Garland, Max Gawn and Mitch Clark have been battling a range of issues, while Jamar suffered pre-season hamstring problems before hurting his calf in January.
None of them will come in to face the Giants – and Hogan looks set to be unavailable for at least another month – but Jamar and Garland are set to take a step this week in the Casey Scorpions' clash with Essendon on Sunday.
"I think [Jamar] will play this week in the VFL, which is good," coach Paul Roos said on Tuesday at Breast Cancer Network Australia's Field of Women launch at the MCG.
"Dawesy is probably a couple of weeks away, Col Garland may play this week … we'll have our medical meeting today and just get an update on all those players."
However, the lower back stress reaction that halted gun recruit Hogan's pre-season looks set to keep the 19-year-old from his debut for at least a month.
Roos said Hogan's program had increased and he felt comfortable running in the past few days but admitted he was still some time away from playing.
"Given where he's at, he's probably four weeks I guess, a couple of weeks of solid training - a game, two games," he said.
"I would say at this stage, with no hiccups, it's probably four to six weeks before he plays."
The players discussed Sunday's 93-point loss to the Eagles at the MCG at length on Monday with co-captain Nathan Jones admitting it "burned" as they watched footage of the heavy defeat.
Co-skipper Jack Grimes said the loss was still hard to take and was simply not going to be accepted by the club.
The players accepted changes would be made to the team this week, which Roos has already flagged.
"We had a lot of skill errors, but I think it's the basics that some of the players aren't doing as consistently as they need to at that level," Grimes said.
"We just need to pick blokes who are going to do that consistently and it may throw the team around a little bit, but so be it."
Grimes also said the players weren't unsettled or distracted by Roos' contractual situation, which has the premiership coach at the helm for just two seasons.
"Not at all. There's no thought about that at all," he said.
"We're two weeks into a 22-game season and there's no talk about that at all amongst the players.
"I think there's a fair bit of other things to think about after the weekend so that hasn't crossed the players' minds, I wouldn't have thought."
Roos himself said calls for him to commit to the club for longer than the term he signed for would not influence or concern him.
"It doesn't change for me. I know what the role was, the role was discussed with the board and Peter Jackson the CEO," he said.
"I think people get a bit too far ahead of themselves.
"From my point of view, I'm not really worried about year three; I'm worried about next week against the Giants and trying to get the club going in the right direction.
"That's my main focus and that's what it has to be."
Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan
Chris Dawes, Jesse Hogan, Col Garland, Max Gawn and Mitch Clark have been battling a range of issues, while Jamar suffered pre-season hamstring problems before hurting his calf in January.
None of them will come in to face the Giants – and Hogan looks set to be unavailable for at least another month – but Jamar and Garland are set to take a step this week in the Casey Scorpions' clash with Essendon on Sunday.
"I think [Jamar] will play this week in the VFL, which is good," coach Paul Roos said on Tuesday at Breast Cancer Network Australia's Field of Women launch at the MCG.
"Dawesy is probably a couple of weeks away, Col Garland may play this week … we'll have our medical meeting today and just get an update on all those players."
However, the lower back stress reaction that halted gun recruit Hogan's pre-season looks set to keep the 19-year-old from his debut for at least a month.
Roos said Hogan's program had increased and he felt comfortable running in the past few days but admitted he was still some time away from playing.
"Given where he's at, he's probably four weeks I guess, a couple of weeks of solid training - a game, two games," he said.
"I would say at this stage, with no hiccups, it's probably four to six weeks before he plays."
The players discussed Sunday's 93-point loss to the Eagles at the MCG at length on Monday with co-captain Nathan Jones admitting it "burned" as they watched footage of the heavy defeat.
Co-skipper Jack Grimes said the loss was still hard to take and was simply not going to be accepted by the club.
The players accepted changes would be made to the team this week, which Roos has already flagged.
"We had a lot of skill errors, but I think it's the basics that some of the players aren't doing as consistently as they need to at that level," Grimes said.
"We just need to pick blokes who are going to do that consistently and it may throw the team around a little bit, but so be it."
Grimes also said the players weren't unsettled or distracted by Roos' contractual situation, which has the premiership coach at the helm for just two seasons.
"Not at all. There's no thought about that at all," he said.
"We're two weeks into a 22-game season and there's no talk about that at all amongst the players.
"I think there's a fair bit of other things to think about after the weekend so that hasn't crossed the players' minds, I wouldn't have thought."
Roos himself said calls for him to commit to the club for longer than the term he signed for would not influence or concern him.
"It doesn't change for me. I know what the role was, the role was discussed with the board and Peter Jackson the CEO," he said.
"I think people get a bit too far ahead of themselves.
"From my point of view, I'm not really worried about year three; I'm worried about next week against the Giants and trying to get the club going in the right direction.
"That's my main focus and that's what it has to be."
Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan
