Holding a teammate to the standard is respect. Letting them slide is just dodging a hard talk.

Letting somebody off dresses up as kindness and usually is not. Saying nothing about a teammate’s effort protects you from an awkward two minutes and tells them, by omission, that nobody expects much, and that message does more damage over a season than a direct conversation ever would. Standards are a form of regard. You hold people to them because you think they can meet them.

Say the thing you have been avoiding to one teammate this week: specific, about the behaviour, in private and with no audience. Then make it clear you are on their side. Deliver it badly rather than not at all.