The Giants' roster is full of accomplished veterans who insist on leading by example. Being vocal comes naturally to tight end Evan Engram, but the rookie had to bide his time before speaking up.

"I was always kind of in a leadership role at Ole Miss," Engram said. "I had to come here and just be the young guy and let the guys who have been here for a while and have been doing a great job for a long time, let them lead. I was kind of sitting back."

Engram was thrust into a leadership role when he was named a game captain for Sunday's 12-9 win over the Chiefs. Coach Ben McAdoo names three game captains each week in addition to full-time captains Eli Manning, Jonathan Casillas and Zak DeOssie.

"Evan has come in, he's done everything that we've asked of him so far," McAdoo said of why he made Engram the first rookie game captain in his two seasons as head coach. "He works hard, loves football and it shows."

As part of his duties as a game captain, Engram delivered a speech to his teammates after last Friday's walkthrough.

"I just have a lot of respect for the guys in this locker room. I know I'm a rookie so not a lot of guys will probably listen to what I have to say anyway," Engram said. "But that's definitely not the case and guys responded pretty well to it."

Excitable right guard D.J. Fluker was ready to run through a wall after Engram's speech about playing hard and sticking together.

"I think it started with 88 (Engram). Eighty-eight came in with a speech the other day," Fluker said after Sunday's win. "He was like, 'We need more energy on the offensive line, we need more energy. We need this.' I was like, 'Rookie, OK, I hear you talking, but we have to play for 60 minutes. We have to (pace) ourselves a little bit.' But he got us fired up. I like that. You don't have to be an older guy to step up and speak and he did a great job with that."

Engram, who was a captain in his final two seasons at Ole Miss, was honored to be named a game captain.

"To gain enough respect to be a captain my first year and kind of slowly getting into a leadership role is something I always gravitate to, so it felt really cool," Engram said. "It was definitely a huge blessing to do that."

Engram has been thrust into a bigger role on the offense due to the injuries that have ravaged the wide receiver corps. The first-round pick has responded with 41 catches for 452 yards and five touchdowns to rank among the most productive tight ends in the league. And now Engram's impact off the field is growing.

"It eventually comes," Engram said. "I wasn't expecting it to be this early, but it was pretty cool."

Dan Duggan may be reached at dduggan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DDuggan21. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.