Stand-in senior coach Blake Caracella spoke to the media at the NEC Hangar on Friday, as he prepares to take the reins from Ben Rutten, who has entered the AFL health and safety protocols.

Here are four key takeaways from his media conference ahead of Sunday's clash with the Crows.

1. 15 years in the making

Having coached at Collingwood, Geelong, Richmond and now Essendon over 15 years, Caracella will helm an AFL game for the first time on Sunday.

The 2000 Essendon premiership player, who played 126 games in the red and black before moving to Brisbane and then Collingwood, has long been touted as a potential senior coach, and made no secret of his desire to step up in the future.

"I'm excited, humbled really. I played for this club, got drafted when I was 17 and now I'm the senior coach for a week," Caracella said.

"It's on my radar now. I've been coaching for 15 years. I kind of fell into coaching when I broke my neck (which ended his career at Collingwood) way back in 2007. Mick (Malthouse) gave me a chance to coach the forward line and through that journey I've had a lot of experience coaching in some good environments. 

"I think with that experience, I have confidence and belief that I can do the job.

"It's (desire to be a senior coach) grown over time. Fifteen years is a long time and I've matured as a person and I've learnt along the way."

2. The coaching re-shuffle

With Caracella stepping up as senior coach, development coach Cam Roberts will join the coaches' box on Sunday in charge of the midfield.

Caracella said the game-day dynamics between the coaching panel and Rutten, who will be stationed at home, were still being worked through.

"We're still going through what we're doing with Ben (on game day). Obviously he'll have communication with myself and the other coaches, but the nitty gritty we're unsure of," he said.

"Ben's spoken to a couple of coaches from other sports who have been in similar situations, so we'll discuss that over the next couple of days."

3. Winless start but signs things will turn

Despite its 0-3 start to the season for the first time since 1967, Caracella said Essendon had produced patches of football that suggested a turnaround in fortunes wasn't far away.

The Bombers have had arguably the toughest draw to open the season, facing last year's preliminary finalist Geelong and semi-finalist Brisbane, and reigning premier Melbourne, with injuries to key players not helping their cause.

"We've had some big games so far - Geelong, Brisbane and Melbourne - top-four teams from last year," Caracella said.

"Outside of the Geelong game where we got beaten from the first bounce, we started well against Brisbane and were right in that game until the last quarter. It was the same against Melbourne, we were in front in the third quarter and probably only 10 points down in the last quarter with the chance to win. We took some risks trying to score and got hurt the other way.

"We know we're a really young team with some injuries to Zach Merrett, Langford, Michael Hurley and 'Walla' (McDonald-Tipungwuti returned in VFL last week), but we're trying to get better and we're growing. 

"I think you can see in patches this year so far, we've played some really good football."

4. Fan favourites still some time off

The Bombers won't rush back electrifying forward Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, who returned in the VFL on Saturday after taking time away from the club over summer.

Despite finishing with two goals and 11 disposals, the 28-year-old still needs to improve his match conditioning before being considered for senior selection.

"It was fantastic to have him back. He's such a well liked person around the football club. He's missed a lot of training and a lot of games, so we need to get some match fitness into him. He's (at least) a few weeks away, how long we don't know. We're looking forward to getting him back," Caracella said.

Much-loved veteran Michael Hurley is also taking steps forward in his bid to make a long-awaited return.

"He's getting closer and closer. He's had a slight setback, but he's not far away," Caracella said.

"I'm not really sure (when he'll return), it's not my area, but he's certainly a lot closer than he was two months ago."