Carlton is hopeful Jed Lamb will only miss one week with concussion, while coach Brendon Bolton has praised Bachar Houli's "great gesture" in personally apologising to the Blues forward for striking him last Sunday.

Lamb was knocked out in the first quarter of Carlton's Round 14 loss to Richmond after Houli swung his arm back and struck him in the head.

The Richmond defender was suspended by the Tribunal for two weeks on Tuesday night, but that penalty was increased to four weeks on Thursday night when the AFL successfully appealed the original sentence on the grounds it was "manifestly inadequate".

Lamb was unavailable for selection for the Blues' clash with Adelaide this week after failing to train.

But Bolton did not want to dwell on the past week's events when he spoke with reporters on Friday morning.

"From all reports, Bachar reached out to Jed which was a great gesture, but I think what's happened here is that the AFL have said that the welfare of players is really important and the head is sacrosanct," Bolton said.

"Jed (has suffered) no structural damage but (he's) not quite ready to play, maybe another week."

Leadership group member Ed Curnow will also miss Saturday's game with a bruised larynx after suffering a heavy knock against Richmond.

Bolton was hopeful Curnow would miss just one week, but said it was hard to put a definitive timeframe on the midfielder's return.

"(It's) hard to say at this stage, it could be more (than one week). We've just got to wait and see how it settles, because it's quite unusual being hit in the throat like that," Bolton said.

"He got a heavy knock to the throat so (it's) difficult to talk and you've just got to be careful in that space."

Bolton said his team's defensive effort against Richmond had not been up to its usual standards, which was a factor in the Blues omitting three players (Blaine Boekhorst, Billie Smedts and Jarrod Pickett) from the Crows clash.

"We hold incredibly high standards in terms of performance, [it's] no broader or less than that," the Blues coach said.

Bolton was tight-lipped about whether he would follow the recent lead of several opposition teams and tag Rory Sloane on Saturday, saying only that the star Adelaide midfielder demanded respect.

Second-year key forward Harry McKay was named as one of the Blues' three emergencies for Saturday's clash. The 2015 NAB AFL Draft's No.10 pick has yet to make his senior debut, but Bolton was "really hopeful" he would before the end of the season.

"(We're) just looking for some four-quarter performances from him," Bolton said.

"He's shown some really good signs in quarters and he's aiming for that four-quarter (effort and) still looking at all the nuances of forward craft."