From the mouths of emotional and frustrated athletes occasionally comes a profound rallying cry.
Almost a year ago, in the face of the Giants’ most dire moment of the 2011 season, came words from Antrel Rolle that would morph into a powerful rallying cry that would help carry them all the way to the Super Bowl.
The Giants had just dropped a dreadful 23-10 decision to the Redskins at home to fall to 7-7 and a disgusted Rolle stood in front of his locker and ranted that if his team had any chance of righting itself the players needed to be “all in.’’
You know the rest. The Giants would not lose another game en route to their second Super Bowl title in five years.
On Tuesday, one day after the Giants’ frustrating 17-16 road loss to the Redskins, a defeat that shaved their once-comfortable NFC East lead to a mere one game, the Giants safety might have unwittingly delivered yet another rallying cry when he called for the Giants to summon their inner canine.
“I think we just need to get back to being a little nasty … get a little bit more dog in us,’’ Rolle said on his weekly WFAN radio spot.
Yesterday, in his first meeting with reporters since the loss in Washington, Rolle expounded on his “dog’’ statement, and he seemed to have the backing from his head coach right on down to many of his teammates.
“It’s about going out there being more physical, having a hungry attitude, having that dog mentality — something we definitely had the last six games last year and you saw where that took us,’’ Rolle said yesterday. “I’m not saying that’s necessarily going to take to us to the same place, but it will definitely give us an edge.’’
Rolle said that “dog mentality’’ has been “missing at times’’ this year.
Not coincidentally, one of the themes to Tom Coughlin’s address to the team before practice yesterday was about putting an end to its maddening inconsistency.
Do we, after all, truly know who these Giants are?
Are they the team that crushed Aaron Rodgers and the Packers 38-10 two weeks ago and dusted the 49ers 26-3 in San Francisco six weeks ago?
Or are they the team that committed nine penalties for 73 yards in the loss to the Redskins on Monday night when they had a chance to lay the hammer down on a division title?
Are they the team that has three fourth-quarter comeback victories this season or the team that has blown fourth-quarter leads in two of their last three losses?
“I don’t think we’ve played dominant on a consistent basis,’’ Rolle said. “We can definitely go out there and have a little bit more dog in us, attack a lot more, be more physical. Against Green Bay we showed that dog mentality. We just need to keep that at a more consistent basis.’’
Asked if his “dog mentality’’ applies to only defensive players, Rolle said, “It extends to anyone who suits up. We’re playing a very physical sport and teams out there are aiming for us. We’re getting teams’ best shot, and we’ve got to go out there and give them ours.’’
Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said he’s “behind Rolle 100 percent.’’
“We’ve been playing like we haven’t [been nasty enough],’’ Pierre-Paul said. “I think we’re a little soft, but I think we’ll get there. We haven’t played our best game this year, and I know that for a fact, that we haven’t played it.’’
Coughlin sounded as if he wanted to outright endorse the words of his safety, but he held back from doing so for fear of turning into Rex Ryan and becoming a back page lead.
“Anything that Antrel says is in the spirit of improvement, and I’m all for that,’’ Coughlin said.
Reading between the lines, though, you got the feeling that Coughlin would love to see his team ravenously attack Drew Brees and the Saints Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Asked if there was a particular dog he wanted the team to represent on the field, Rolle smiled and said, “All dogs bite.’’
mark.cannizzaro
@nypost.com