Several players were teasing linebacker Danny Clark, and all around there were more smiles than expected.

While their fans may be pushing the panic button, the Giants obviously aren't, even after a 40-17 loss to the arch-rival Eagles on Sunday that defensive end Justin Tuck hopes is "rock bottom" for the defending divisional champions.

If there was a positive for Tuck, it was watching his teammates. In the hours after the game, he felt that the team's confidence slipped as low as he had seen it. Noting how the players responded in meetings yesterday changed his feelings.

"I don't know what has happened to us the last three weeks," Tuck said. "That's kind of disheartening, but it lets me know the guys care. You can just tell that frustration is kind of boiling over. A lot people say you shouldn't be frustrated, but I actually like it when guys are frustrated because I know it's something deep inside of their persons letting me know they care about what is going on here and they want to change it."

The Giants will get that chance Sunday when they host the San Diego Chargers in New York's final game before a bye week.

Coach Tom Coughlin didn't have much fun watching videotapes of the Eagles game early yesterday. Special teams play was poor. The defense didn't tackle well and gave up four plays of 30 yards or more, including three for touchdowns. The offense again was error-prone, with Eli Manning throwing two interceptions, both of which set up Eagles touchdowns.

Some of the mistakes were obvious, especially the ones on defense. Safety C.C. Brown missed a two-deep coverage call on DeSean Jackson's 54-yard touchdown catch after New York got to within 16-7 late in the first half. Defenders not staying in the right defensive gaps allowed Leonard Weaver and LeSean McCoy to score on long runs.

Tuck doesn't know why problems with communication have popped up halfway through the season. But he said it was obvious some people weren't getting the calls by the way players looked at each other after a big play.

"That's an easy thing to fix; I'm not too worried about that," he said. "The right word is swagger. That's what we need to get back. We haven't had that the last few weeks and we need to get it back."

Manning isn't worried about the offense, either. He says the plays are there to be made. The offense just has to make them and not turn over the ball.

"There is no secret ingredient," said Manning, who has thrown six interceptions in the slide. "There is no 'We have to change our philosophy.' There is none of that. We are not in panic mode right now. But we do need to get better and we do need to play better than what we are playing right now. This is going to be a big week for us, this week versus San Diego, and hopefully we get back on track."

When informed that Giants fans were probably panicking, Manning wasn't concerned.

"Fans can get in panic mode and that is all right," he said. "We can't have the players get in panic mode, and that is the most important thing."

Center Shaun O'Hara, one of a handful of players who stayed around to talk to reporters yesterday, said the Giants simply weren't playing "Giants football," noting that turnovers, penalties, and mistakes had been the common theme the last three weeks. The absence of them was crucial to a 5-0 start.

"We know how to win football games," O'Hara said. "They key is just going out and doing it, and that's what has been frustrating. We're just not getting it done on Sunday."

That's the message Coughlin delivered to his team.

"There wasn't any sugarcoating," he said. "You've got to be a man about the good and the bad. When things happen like this, you just have to learn from it somehow, some way, and eliminate it, and maybe the next locker room will be a cheerful one. There should be no hanging of their heads or none of that stuff. What we did not get accomplished on the field is no one's fault but our own."