Wink Martindale Reveals Nature of Sideline Discussion with Brian Daboll
When a team is down and out, as the New York Giants have been of late, it's not uncommon for tempers to flare among the players and coaches on the sidelines.
But in the case of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who was caught on camera both before and after halftime having what appeared to be intense discussions with head coach Brian Daboll with the Giants down 28-0, imaginations began to run wild, with people speculating that Daboll was giving Martindale an earful.
On Thursday, Martindale clarified and downplayed what happened.
“Dabs said something to me after the game about that, and he and I talk all the time, but in those two situations, I talked to him about what happened because one thing about our defense: we don’t give up a whole lot of big passing plays--and I credit the secondary to that and 'Rome [defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson]--and we gave up some big plays in the passing game, which you all saw,” Martindale said.
“So, I told (Daboll) what happened on the coverages. That was it right before the half. And then coming back out, he had just got done at that time 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.”
Martindale's defense ended up allowing 640 yards to the Cowboys in the 49-17 loss, an occurrence he described as 'tough" to watch unfold.
"It doesn’t happen very often, or you wouldn’t have this job very long, so, you know, it was a tough game," Martindale said. "But like I said, I give Dallas credit. It was one of those games that you make a call, and you feel real good about it until the ball is snapped, and then you are like, ‘Oh, no.’ You know? It was a tough one for all of us."
Martindale was asked if the Cowboys running up the yards and points on the defense took some of the air out of the players' spirits.
"I don’t know," he said. "I still think those guys fight. I think they’ve got too much respect for the game, and as I said, you know we had some guys, (outside linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux) and Tae (cornerback Deonte Banks), and some guys went down there at halftime, but they all fought. I think that’s one of the many things that I love about them: they are fighters and going to fight."
As for the remaining seven games, the first of which is this weekend against Washington, Martindale echoed Daboll's sentiments about staying the course regarding the message and the processes in place.
"I think that you’ve got to stay consistent, and you do challenge them, you challenge them every week, and the challenge is Washington’s offense and this league, there are no easy outs, you know what I mean?" Martindale said.
"They are going to step on your throat if they think you’re down. And you do the same thing defensively if you do that to an offense. I think the challenge is we have to get ready for Washington, and the players see how much they’ve improved as well, offensively."
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