The New York Giants will play their last game of the season in Week 18 as they host the Philadelphia Eagles. It could also be defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s final game with the Giants, as his status remains up in the air amid rumors of tension between him and head coach Brian Daboll.
Giants DC Wink Martindale preparing for “tough conversations”
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Martindale said that after the final game of the season, conversations will be had regarding his future with the team.
“How this league works, inevitably, you are going to have conversations, tough conversations,” said Martindale. “How that works out is how that is going to work out.”
Could Martindale garner head coaching interest again?
Martindale garnered attention for head coaching positions across the league after last season but ultimately came back to New York after failing to land a job in the big chair. Martindale still has an interest in being a head coach but is saving those talks until after the season is over and his future with the Giants is decided.
“Do I expect to be back? I don’t know why I wouldn’t,” said Martindale. “But like I said you have those conversations after this last game and you sit back and you can reflect and you take the emotion out of it, the emotion, the grind, the stress of preparing every week and you sit back, and you talk things out. Say here’s where we are at, so I think that’s natural on every team.”
According to Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post, Martindale doesn’t have head-coaching demand anymore after the Giants’ disappointing 2023 season.
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Despite poor results, Martindale is happy with how his defense played this season
Martindale’s defense hasn’t experienced the same level of success as it did last season. Despite some bright moments, the overall numbers have not been great, as New York ranks 28th in both points and yards allowed heading into Week 18. Results aside, Martindale is happy with the overall effort his defense put in this season.
“The things to be happy about for me was the effort that we gave every week,” said Martindale. “There is a lot of things to fix, obviously. But the takeaways, the different situations that we were put in and how they handled it and the response to that. We’ll just take a good long look.”
Martindale and the Giants will have one last opportunity to secure a quality win in Week 18 against the Philadelphia Eagles. These two teams last clashed on Christmas Day, as the Giants suffered a 33-25 defeat. Kickoff is set for 4:25 PM (CBS).
