Giants’ Wink Martindale hurt, surprised by McKinney’s criticism

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said he felt hurt and surprised by safety Xavier McKinney’s comments after Sunday’s 30-6 loss to the Raiders.

McKinney said that after the game, the team’s leadership was “not really being heard.” The fourth-year safety is one of the defensive captains.

The Giants defense had been playing good football before the Raiders’ loss. He had allowed just 33 points in the previous three games.

This particular complaint is one that Martindale, known for his friendly approach to players, has never heard in his 36-year coaching career.

“Yes, it surprised me because it’s the first time in my career that a player has made such a statement,” he said. “I think it was a case of the kid who was just frustrated that he lost. We talked. We cleared things up. The example he gave me of what he was talking about was an adjustment in progress game.

“It really took him a while to point out exactly what it was. But I think you grow from that, and I just told him that it’s something that hurts in the locker room. It makes Hurts the defensive room when you say something like that.”

Coach Brian Daboll said McKinney will play his usual role Sunday as the starting safety against the Cowboys. There would be no discipline on the ground to express opinions.

The post-match criticism hit hard again. That hurt Martindale, known for his “Keep It Real” meetings and open-door policy. He views his defensive meetings as a safe place that always ends with asking if anyone has any questions or concerns.

“It made [hurt]”, Martindale said. “That’s the case because I’ve always been open and honest with the players. I think if you have a problem, it’s just the way we handle things in this room.”

Which is why it was particularly out of left field for the defensive coordinator.

“You read it and you go, ‘What?! S—, what is he about?'” Martindale said. “It’s okay. We’ll move on.”

McKinney’s complaint was hardly unanimous. It seemed to be more isolated than anything else.

“It’s not my view or my interpretation of what’s going on,” freshman linebacker and captain Bobby Okereke said. “But I never want to invalidate his point of view and how he feels. I know him, Wink and [Daboll] I talked about it and came to some sort of agreement, understanding.”

“Those kinds of things, when things happen, it’s best to deal with it internally. Keep the family business, the family business, from a distraction standpoint.”

The Giants hold captains’ meetings every Friday morning at 8:15 a.m. ET, before defensive meetings. Inside are the team’s 10 captains, coach, coordinators and director of coaching operations Laura Young.

This is where the technical staff wants complaints to be heard.

“We’re just opening the floor,” Okereke said. “Does anyone have anything? Set the record straight. Are there any conversations, anything from the locker room that you would like to bring to my attention? We’re talking about this week’s schedule. We’re talking must-haves offensively, defensively. We talk about the plan. Coach asks if you want to add anything. Boom, boom, boom. Open discussions.

It’s been a tough season for the Giants (2-7), and it looks like cracks are starting to show. They’ve lost tough games to the Bills and Jets in recent weeks; They now face the reality of playing the remainder of the season without their starting quarterback after Daniel Jones tore the ACL in his right knee against the Raiders.

Daboll would not comment directly on McKinney’s comments. He simply pointed out the setup they had in place.

“I would say, look, the meetings that we have, we’ve had them for two years, are good, productive meetings,” Daboll said. “I would say the communication from myself, the coordinators, the players and the feedback from the players, I feel very comfortable with that.”