COLUMBIA | An official, double-secret, players-only meeting, it wasn&rsquo;t. Official or double-secret, anyway.</p><p>But before practice Sunday, Missouri football captains Sean Weatherspoon and Kurtis Gregory gathered their teammates and passed out what defensive back Kevin Rutland called &ldquo;some tough love.&rdquo;</p><p>No names were attached to the tackles missed, the passes dropped, the defenses misread or any other mistakes Missouri committed in losing for the fourth time in the last five games, 40-32 to Baylor on Saturday.</p><p>But according to senior defensive end Brian Coulter, some deep concerns were discussed, first by Weatherspoon and Gregory, and later by individual coaches in the gathered darkness of the practice field.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe there are some people here that really don&rsquo;t want to be here,&rdquo; Coulter said Monday. &ldquo;Maybe they have a problem with the coaching staff, or maybe some other players.&rdquo;</p><p>Coulter said those exact words, or at least that specific message, came up from both defensive coordinator Dave Steckel and in another way, coach Gary Pinkel.</p><p>&ldquo; &lsquo;Y&rsquo;all know the ones I&rsquo;m talking to,&rsquo; &rdquo; Coulter recounted.</p><p>&ldquo;Once the season is over with, maybe they need to do an evaluation of who all they&rsquo;ve got coming back and who really wants to be here and who really doesn&rsquo;t want to be here,&rdquo; Coulter said, stating his own position on the matter. &ldquo;The ones who don&rsquo;t are going to continue to be the same old problems.&rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps that sounded more ominous than it was. Weatherspoon viewed it that way. So did Gregory, who considered what happened sort of a good cop-bad cop scenario. </p><p>&ldquo;I pulled them up, Sean slapped them down,&rdquo; Gregory said.</p><p>Weatherspoon said his primary message was that every Tiger had to put the team first.</p><p>Defensive players cannot dwell that Missouri hasn&rsquo;t scored an offensive touchdown in the second half of five straight games. Offensive players cannot point to the defense giving up 27 fourth-quarter points to Nebraska, a game Missouri led 12-0 and lost, starting Mizzou&rsquo;s slide to 5-4 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12.</p><p>&ldquo;The only way we can win games is to play as a team,&rdquo; Weatherspoon said. &ldquo;We talked about that.&rdquo;</p><p>And some things beyond the field.</p><p>&ldquo;If someone doesn&rsquo;t go to class, their position group suffers the first time,&rdquo; Weatherspoon said. &ldquo;The next time the whole defense suffers.</p><p>&ldquo;The third time, they have to go in front of the discipline council, and then the whole team.&rdquo; </p><p>Hypotheticals? No.</p><p>&ldquo;We talked about guys doing what they have to do for their teammates,&rdquo; Weatherspoon said, &ldquo;instead of being selfish and staying in bed. Go to class.</p><p>&ldquo;On the field, instead of being selfish and trying (too hard) to make this play, do what you&rsquo;re supposed to do so your teammate can make that play.&rdquo;</p><p>Another captain, wide receiver Danario Alexander, said he wasn&rsquo;t comfortable with the big crowd. He pulled some players aside for private chats.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to turn this thing around,&rdquo; Alexander said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got three games left. Our best game is coming up.&rdquo;</p><p>Missouri may need its best game to win at Kansas State on Saturday.</p><p>The Wildcats stand 6-4 and lead the North at 4-2 because they have gained discipline under their returning legendary coach, Bill Snyder. They depend on the conference&rsquo;s best running back, Daniel Thomas (108.7 yards rushing a game).