Phil Davis regards a recent concussion as scary but Greater Western Sydney's returning co-captain won't use the same adjective to describe his AFL club's form slump.
Davis, who has missed the past two games after copping an accidental elbow to the head from Jack Darling, will make his comeback against former side Adelaide on Sunday.
The Giants are reeling from the team's worst losing streak since 2014, with some critics suggesting the 11th-placed team's finals hopes are effectively over after four consecutive defeats.
"I was reading five weeks ago that Melbourne were gone. They were the articles weren't they? Melbourne were gone 2-3 and now all of a sudden they're the greatest team ever," Davis told reporters on Tuesday.
"Things change very, very quickly.
"People become impatient and need things to happen.
"I take it with a grain of salt ... if I have to rely on other people's opinions (for motivation) I probably have a few issues.
"It's round 10. If we don't fix it we are in a lot of trouble but there are 12 games to go. We've won four and a half games, the season's not over and we've got plenty of time."
Davis' on-field leadership and defensive nous has been sorely missed by GWS during the past fortnight, during which the former premiership favourites have continued their ladder slide.
The 27-year-old admits he wasn't the best spectator during losses to Essendon and North Melbourne.
"I'm a terrible watcher of football, I get very frustrated and angry. Even in the coaches' box I had to muffle myself a few times," Davis said.
"Unfortunately there's a few things going wrong, which isn't ideal.
"Our major issue at the moment is just our consistency.
"Every game we've played for the last month, apart from maybe the Geelong game, we've been in it and competitive.
"But patches of the games have really let us down."
Davis has weathered plenty of blows in his career, including a nasty hit in 2014. The key defender played three quarters with a ruptured kidney that threatened life and career before he was rushed to hospital.
His most recent collision was relatively tame but the effects were still alarming.
"Concussions are always scary, it's something we've got to take very seriously as an AFL industry," Davis said.
"You can always get a knee replacement but you can't quite get a brain replacement. You have to be extra cautious
"I felt pretty good by the back end of last week.
"Just got to get through a few more things this week but confident I'll be out there Sunday."
