Growing Tension Between the Giants Wink Martindale and Brian Daboll
A report claims that there may not be much more tension between defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and head coach Brian Daboll in the New York Giants locker room.
According to NFL insider Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, Daboll, 48, and Martindale, 60, have been having increasing amounts of conflict, to the point where they are “in a bad place.”
Given that Daboll and Martindale are alpha males with very different personalities, this report of discord is not surprising. When it comes to player unrest, Daboll usually stays silent. For example, after the Giants lost and safety Xavier McKinney voiced concerns about leaders not being heard, he suggested that there was a rift between the players and coaches.
Martindale played the wounded party, claiming that the safety’s comments “hurt,” and subtly hinted that McKinney wasn’t even sure of what was bothering him in the first place to make the comments given how long it took him to articulate what his issues were. Daboll attempted to downplay the flare-up and keep any feelings about it inside the company.
Martindale told reporters, “It surprised me because it’s the first time it’s ever happened in my career.” The fact that a player would say something like that. It seems to me that the child was just upset about losing. We talked and worked things out. It took him some time to clarify what exactly the in-game adjustment was, but I believe you learn from it. That was the example he gave me of what he was talking about.
“I just told him that when you say something like that, it hurts the defensive room and the locker room,” he continued. More recently, during the Giants’ 49-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Martindale and Daboll were observed engaging in a lively conversation. The two men appeared to be having a heated conversation as the teams went to the locker room at halftime and then emerged again.
Daboll played down any indication of conflict once more, but Martindale—whose defense gave the Cowboys 640 yards—was once more quick to clarify any attempt to downplay any indication of strife.
He clarified, “I told (Daboll) what happened on the coverages.” That was it just prior to halftime. When he returned, he had just finished speaking with the trainers about who wasn’t returning for the third quarter. That conversation eventually developed into whatever it ended up becoming, but it was all for nothing.
Daboll played down any indication of tension once more, but Martindale—whose defense gave the Cowboys 640 yards—was also quick to dispel any suspicions. “I told (Daboll) what happened on the coverages,” he said, “and that was it right before the half. And then coming back out, he had just gotten done talking to the trainers, and we were talking about who wasn’t coming back for the third quarter during that time, and that turned into whatever it turned into, but there was nothing to it.”
