Cincinnati Bengals players don’t need anyone to tell them they’re underperforming.

The Bengals have now lost two in a row, coming up short in a game they should have won against the Pittsburgh Steelers before hardly showing up for a 45-10 blowout at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now 4-3, team leaders held a players-only meeting the Monday after the Chiefs loss. Offensive lineman Trey Hopkins spoke with the media about it:

“We’ve done it before. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. When you have games that have gone the way they’ve gone the last couple of weeks, it’s not a big secret. We’re all about keeping everybody together and getting us back on track. We have a group of great leaders in this locker room. When they have something to say, they make it known. I’m sure nothing was said that hasn’t been said already in here to you guys (the media).”

So did safety Clayton Fejedelem: “It was in-house. Player to player. We listened to a few players and that was it. It shouldn’t be talked about anywhere else. We’re underachieving as a group right now. We know we have talent as a team. We know how good we are as a group. Just underachieving. It was brought to attention. ”

A typical player’s meeting or not, something has to change for the Bengals. The players were at best timid against the Chiefs while missing a ridiculous number of tackles, which has morphed into a season-long problem.

Coaching hasn’t helped, from odd punting decisions to kicking field goals while getting laughed out of a building. But the players have to go out and show some fight while executing as well, which sounds like the message conveyed during the meeting.

Those players don’t have long to make good on the message — a hiccup in Week 8 against Tampa Bay would sink them to .500 before a bye.