Tom Coughlin stepped up to the microphone and pulled off the mother of all counter plays a short time ago.

I’m still chuckling.

The usually stone-faced Coughlin went from stating how the organization needed to look at where it was going in Dallas, to noting that he was downright excited about where the Giants are sitting as preparations for a showdown with Charlotte got under way.

It came down like a comedy routine.

When asked whether the players might be inspired this week by the prospect of earning what’s essentially a three-week layoff between meaningful games, Coughlin stepped back and did a few jumping jacks. Seriously. Watch the highlights tonight on your favorite media outlet.

“Is that a set-up or something?” he asked. “I think what you’re playing for is all the incentive anybody needs.”

And what the Giants are playing for is the No. 1 seed. They lock up homefield with a win.

Coughlin almost got silly a few minutes later while discussing the mood of his team, which has dropped two in a row for the first time all season. And the Giants haven’t looked good in defeat.

The mood over the last 48 hours was almost somber.

“What two weeks? What are you talking about? What two weeks?” Coughlin said with a light-hearted tone. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s what’s up front, what’s coming up. Let’s go! Forget about yesterday. Yesterday does not matter. What matters is this coming weekend. So we went ahead, like we did a year ago, quite frankly, and eliminated some of those games where we could’ve been in a better situation and we got it down to one game. I think it’s great.”

And have the players displayed a similar attitude?

“They will in about 15 minutes,” Coughlin said.

Big laugh.

The players were allowed to come in later today, so the weekly state of the union hasn’t been given, but nobody was surprised Coughlin was almost yukking it up in the pressroom.

“It ain’t the first time we’ve seen him do jumping jacks,” Justin Tuck said. “I mean, he loves what he does. Football is something he’s very passionate about, and he has no problem showing us that. I know he’s known as Commander Tom Coughlin, but he’s a guy who’s very passionate about what he does and he has no problem in terms of showing it toward us.”

So what’s the message?

I’m guessing Coughlin needs his locker room to lighten up and stop pressing. A couple of players mentioned they were perhaps trying a little too hard to lock up the No. 1 seed.

On another front, Brandon Jacobs plans to lobby whoever he needs to in order to get back on the field against the Panthers, which certainly would help the Giants relax. He did state, though, a little rest only helps the knee until it gets banged again in practice. In other words, Jacobs isn’t a whole lot healthier than he was a week ago.

Don’t forget, join us for the live chat tomorrow at noon on LoHud.com. We’ve got lots to talk about. Jane McManus, who covers the Jets for us, will be joining me. It’s one-stop shopping.