Former New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale did not always see eye to eye with his old boss, Brian Daboll, during their tenure together. Following his exit from the franchise and a reportedly tense relationship with Daboll, Martindale has not been shy about taking digs at the Giants' old regime. Following New York's Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys, he again indirectly prodded at Daboll with his assessment of what seems to be an improved Giants offense.
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart was excellent in the season-opening victory with a 23-for-29 effort through the air, 230 passing yards and three touchdowns. From a passer-rating perspective, it was a meaningfully better performance than any he logged as a rookie with Daboll as play-caller. Meanwhile, Daboll now orchestrates the Tennessee Titans offense, which floundered in his debut as coordinator.
Quarterback Cam Ward struggled in a largely ineffective outing as the Titans posted just 10 points in a loss to the New York Jets. Dart appears to have leveled up under new leadership while Ward's lack of second-year improvement coincides with Daboll's arrival as play-caller. And Martindale took that disparity as an opportunity to fire a veiled jab at the former Giants coach.
"I'm not ready to crown him yet, as far as Jaxson Dart being 'the' guy. Not ready to crown him yet. I think he's gotta go through some more games and get some more body of work," Martindale said on "Talkin' Ball with Pat Leonard." "But I will tell you this: He looked like a completely different quarterback.
In the same instance, so did Cam Ward when you turned on the Titans-Jets game." Ward closed his rookie year on a personal high with eight touchdown passes to just one interception over his final four games. He averaged a passer rating of 104 over the final three contests. In his first game under Daboll's tutelage, however, Ward regressed to his early-2025 level of play, posting an 80.2 passer rating and just 140 passing yards against a maligned Jets defense.
Time will tell if Daboll can help his quarterback live up to the hype that comes with being a former No. 1 overall draft pick. If he does not, and if Dart continues to play as well as he did in New York's win over Dallas, there could be something to the coaching element. Dart now takes his directions from head coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and appeared highly comfortable in their system just one game in.
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