Giants’ DC Wink Martindale: ‘Thin line’ between competing, practicing

In light of the massive brawl that happened later in the day at New York Giants practice, something that defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said on Monday morning proved memorable.

Martindale was asked if there is a difference between competing with and practicing against players on your own team.

“I think that we’re all competitors, starting with our head coach. We just play off of him. We all compete,” Martindale said. “It’s a very thin line.”

Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka discussed the challenge of practicing against Martindale.

“We’re trying to follow the practice plan that we’ve had that we set all the way in June. Those things are going to happen, and that’s why Wink is who he is. He brings a lot of pressure, and he’s multiple in those type of ways,” Kafka said. “But that’s been a good challenge for our offense, but again, I think there’s plays that we’ve had throughout training camp and in the scrimmage that look pretty good. We got him on one of them; they got us on one. That’s part of competing.”

On secondary depth ...

“I think he’s [Jerome Henderson] the best secondary coach there is in the league. I love our first group of secondary players and now we’ve just got to keep building on depth. I love how they compete, I love how they practice and I’m excited to see ‘em play.”

On Kayvon Thibodeaux ...

“I think that’s he come in and went to work. That’s what impresses me the most. He’s just went to work and it’s all about football. And he’s very smart football-wise. I’m just excited to see where his growth takes him.”

‘Open competition’ at inside linebacker ...

“I’ve told them it’s open competition. Someone needs to go up and grab that spot. I’ve been really happy with what Tae [Crowder] has done. The rookies are rookies, it’s one of the toughest positions to play coming in as a rookie ... they’ve accepted the challenge.”

On Darnay Holmes’ good training camp ..

“He wants to go against the best every time he gets 1-on-1 reps and I love is toughness. I call him ‘Dirty 30.’ I just love his toughness. I’m not saying he plays dirty. I’m just saying how he embraces the grind of practicing every day and doing things right and asking the right questions. He’s got some qualities that we haven’t had before at that position.”

‘Different style meeting’ than anyone else ...

Martindale says his meetings are different than those run by other coordinators.

“I want people talking. I cam up and ask them about their family, how are they doing? Just get ‘em talking. It’s a process and you get a defense that comes together because they all know each other and they’re not afraid to communicate, they’re not afraid to work out problems, they’re not afraid to celebrate together. In building a unit, that’s what you do.”