The Teessiders, pre-season favourites for promotion, slipped back into the npower Championship's bottom three as a result of Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Millwall, sparking a dressing room inquest.
Mowbray told the club's official website, www.mfc.co.uk: "We had a good long chat. The players know exactly what the situation is. They are hurting.
"Several of them came here because they thought they would get into the Premier League, but the reality is very different and we are where we are.
"They know that we have got to find a way out of it together.
"The players have to swipe away all the excuses and stand together, alongside the fans, to get out of the problem we are in."
Source: PA
Source: PA