Coughlin wants other Giants leaders to set tone

Tom Coughlin stood by his initial impressions of Saturday night's preseason loss to the Ravens, saying Sunday that he was disappointed in the execution and thought the energy level should have been higher.

Now, it seems, he's looking for someone to stand and agree with him. Someone inside the locker room.

Coughlin said no one on the team came forward Sunday and addressed the squad after the Giants reviewed the 24-10 loss in Baltimore. Maybe because it was just a preseason game. Maybe because there is still a feeling-out process in the leadership hierarchy. Maybe because the team didn't get home until 3:30 in the morning. But it sounded as though Coughlin is waiting - and hoping - for someone to step forward and deliver a message.

"That certainly has to happen," he said. "If you are going to have the kind of team you want to have, [you need] the type of individual who feels ownership and is not afraid to express the fact that there is an acceptable level of performance and effort. I think that's a big part of it."

Coughlin and others have attributed the team's demise last year to a lack of leadership, and he has tried to nudge some players forward during this preseason. In between tackling drills and installing the offense, there has been a search for players to carry the flag.

"We're constantly looking for people to emerge," Coughlin said. "That's always something that is a very interesting part of this, the dynamic of the locker room, the positive leadership coming forth. We're still in a position where that is evolving."

The Giants paid special attention to that kind of ability when they added to their roster during the offseason, picking up guys such as Antrel Rolle and Keith Bulluck, who have been leaders on teams that were successful.

One of the obvious players who could become a vocal leader of the team is Justin Tuck. He's already a lead-by-example guy; Coughlin noted his two sacks against the Ravens and said he hopes other players in the room noticed it, too. But Tuck has spoken about trying to become more of an enforcer in the locker room, a guy who can call out a teammate for lack of hustle or effort.

"I'm not the type of guy who's going to call him out in front of everybody," Tuck said. "I'll go to him if I see it's warranted."

After Saturday's game, Tuck said he did in fact pull a few of his teammates aside. He noted that the conversations he had with them were more about technique and tips than effort, but it's certainly a start.

Tuck also said there were "some guys" he saw whose effort could be questioned.

"Obviously, you don't want to single anybody out," he said. "It's a whole team effort. When you see another guy not in a ballgame as he should be, you pick him up. That's something we didn't do [Saturday]. We didn't come out as a team energized."

Coughlin doesn't just want someone to tell a lineman how to find a better angle, though. He has coaches for that.

Coughlin spoke about the players who did give maximum effort Saturday, the ones who recognized the importance of the third preseason game and its closeness to the regular season. He was happy with that, but he doesn't want them to keep that awareness to themselves.

"I hope," he said, "they're able to share their feelings with their teammates."