Hird was due to front the media at Windy Hill late on Thursday morning but just before he was due to appear, reporters were told that Hird had been held up in meetings and was unavailable.
Goodwin took his coach's place and was forced to answer some probing questions about the supplements scandal that has gripped the club.
Asked why Hird was suddenly unavailable, Goodwin said: "I think we all understand that there's a lot going on away from just football. There's a lot of meetings going on ... I think that what we all need to do as staff is really step up and take some of that load away from James and actually help in this situation, and help the club actually move forward. It's territory that we haven’t been in before."
On whether Hird would coach against Carlton at the MCG on Saturday night, Goodwin said: "As far as I know, he's definitely going to be senior coach, yeah."
Pressed on the issue, Goodwin was adamant: "James Hird is the coach of this football club. James Hird wants to coach this football club. James Hird has certainly been doing [that] to the best of his ability."
Goodwin said it had been a difficult, stressful time for all at Windy Hill, but insisted Hird had been "outstanding" with the players, who he said had been the coach's first priority.
"James has always had concern for the players … His No.1 aim is to make sure the players and their families are OK," he said.
"I'm sure James hasn’t wanted this to become about him, but it's certainly something that it's a really difficult time for him that he's going through."
Goodwin said it was "very sad" and "hard to listen to" the upset mother of an unidentified player venting her anguish on Melbourne radio on Thursday.
He emphasised that the club had been "fantastic" in educating the players' families on the issue.
Asked whether he was concerned about what the ASADA investigation might hold for him, Goodwin said he was not prepared to talk about the specifics of the investigation.
Despite reports that a legal loophole could allow Essendon players to void their contracts and effectively leave the club as free agents, Goodwin said that from what he had seen "all the players are resolute in being part of this footy club".
"The player group are very tight, they’re very resolute still, and they want to put on a performance that they can be proud of," he said.
He highlighted Jake Melksham's decision to re-sign with the Bombers until the end of 2015 as an indication of that faith.
The seventh-placed Bombers have lost their past four games but Goodwin said the players were determined to turn their season around.
"We're playing Carlton this week, Richmond the week after and we don’t know what (will be) happening after that," he said, in reference to the possibility of being stripped of premiership points and missing the finals.
Twitter: @AFL_BenCollins
