Carlton vice-captain Jacob Weitering isn’t necessarily offended by criticism surrounding his game.

The All-Australian defender is one of a few names that gets thrown up in trade conversations when footy media attempts to diagnose the issues at the Blues.

Weitering has also had his shortcomings highlighted in review shows with some critics commenting harshly on his performances.

SEN's David King even suggested that Weitering plays "selfish footy", only worrying about his own game.

But he isn’t overly offended by it and doesn’t buy into the trade chat given he’s committed with Carlton until 2031.

“I’m aware of it,” he told Gerard Whateley on SEN.

“It’s part of the game, it’s business. If it was five years ago I’d be a bit more offended because it’s just not the landscape we had back then in terms of player movement.

“I’m contracted long-term at Carlton, I’m a leader of the club, I said that I’ll be here for the long-term and it’s only Round 8. So I’ve very much got to concentrate on what’s directly in front of me, not what’s going to happen in the future and at the end of the year.

“It’s just one of those things you have to deal with as a player and I’ll continue to front up in that Carlton jumper.”

One of the main talking points surrounding the Blues in 2026 is their second-half fadeouts which seem to be occurring weekly.

Weitering does admit he gets “insular” on the field when his defence is constantly bombarded, but is working through ways to improve that area of his game by uniting with his fellow backs.

“Insular is probably not far off the mark, in that you’re getting bombarded with what’s happening in front of you,” he continued.

“You probably can’t control a lot of what’s going on up the field. Insular in that I’m pretty flat, I guess, with the way the results are going and goals are getting scored on us.

“But I reckon if you were to sit down and actually watch behind-the-goals vision, it doesn’t lie, so for the most part I reckon the defenders are getting together after most goals.”

Senior coach Michael Voss is also a weekly topic when it comes to the Blues.

His tenure is seen by many as on borrowed time but Weitering insists his demeanour has not changed through these grim and difficult times.

“Not to my observation. I’ve been through some challenging times at this club, and I won’t compare coaches, but there’s been a fair bit of adversity and pressure that he’s had to rise up to and lead this club through,” Weitering said of his coach.

“I don’t think he’s blinked an eye at how he operates as a person and as a leader, which has been incredibly impressive considering.

“I think everyone can appreciate the human element of it. He’s got a wife and kids, he’s got a home life to worry about and also 45 players to lead every day.

“He’s doing an absolutely wonderful job considering the circumstances. So whatever happens happens, he knows that his job is to continue to coach us regardless of what’s going on externally.”

Does Weitering fear that there will come a breaking point and Voss will lose his job?

“Well, we’re a results-based industry so naturally if you continue to lose games I would say that changes would have to be made in some way,” he replied.

“What that looks like is not up to me so we’ll just focus on what is next.”

And what is next for Weitering and the Blues is a clash with back-to-back reigning go premiers the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Friday night as they look to arrest a six-game winless run.