Tiki Barber still sending mixed signals about Tom Coughlin

Former Giants running back Tiki Barber, who is being inducted into the team's Ring of Honor Sunday night, clearly remains conflicted about his relationship with Giants coach Tom Coughlin. Earlier this week, Barber said Coughlin faces a "crisis" because of the perception that he's losing the team and added that the coach's "job is in jeopardy," as if he has a pipeline to the front office.

In a conference call earlier today with media covering the Giants, Barber admitted that he's not in the locker room and has less contact with players than in the past, but he suggested Coughlin is having trouble developing leadership in the locker room. "Tom can get the locker room back by having guys disseminate his message correctly," Barber said. "Tom is a great coach. We all know that…Now, he has to rely on the truth that he knows, being able to get it to the guys that can disseminate it to the rest of the team and have them believe in it. That's how coaches become successful."

Queried about how Coughlin has evolved as a coach, Barber said: "I've never said that Tom is a bad coach. I think he's a great coach. My issue with him -- and he knows what it is because we've had plenty of discussions, some civil, some not -- is about how you treat people. I think his biggest evolution has been in how he has respected his players and how he's gotten them to play for him. That's why they won the Super Bowl in 2007, and I think that now the team and he need to find that mutual center of respect and success will come their way."

Barber's nominees for locker-room leaders include center Shaun O'Hara, who has been injured, quarterback Eli Manning and defensive linemen Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka. He added that cornerback Corey Webster should be ready to step forward and exert some influence over the rest of the team.

"They're not losing from lack of talent," Barber said. "They're losing from lack of execution and consistency. They've played two bad games in a row, buit it doesn't make the season, particularly given what the NFC East is doing right now. Save the Eagles, the Giants have as good a chance as anybody."