WITH WINK, GIANTS' 'D' CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING That includes the tough stuff, like Hamlin's collapse

For Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, these are good times.

He seems to have a room of defensive players who trust him implicitly. He’s blitzing at the highest rate in the league. (What else is new?)

And, no stranger to the playoffs during his time in Baltimore, he returns again to the postseason.

He can give you bluster, one-liners and the occasional zinger, but this week his players saw Martindale in a different light: Vulnerable and shaken as so many were after seeing Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapse on the field Monday night.

There has since been much more promising news regarding Hamlin’s health, but earlier in the week, Martindale oversaw a meeting room of defensive players who were still processing what they had seen on television.

Cornerback Nick McCloud said Wednesday was the toughest time he ever had during a football practice. Safety Jason Pinnock played with Hamlin at the University of Pittsburgh.

“I think you privately and then we did it as a defense, too,” Martindale said. “Both spoke and I think that’s good because you keep talking about it. We talked about it again . I don’t know the best way to say it, I’ll just say it this way: know our defensive meeting room is a safe place. We talk about anything.”

The foundation for that trust, Adoree’ Jackson said, began when players reported to the offseason conditioning program on April 4 and continued through the spring. The Giants had high player turnout throughout those weeks and months.

The way Jackson sees it, the trust built during the spring enabled these Giants to weather the stretch from Nov. 20-Dec. 24 when they won just one game.

“Gaining trust in us in the offseason and us, as players, doing a good job of holding each other accountable, the guys who had to did a good job understanding the situation and the role they were in,” Jackson said. “Credit to them, they did a great job getting us to the playoffs.”

Jackson injured his knee against Detroit on Nov. 20. He was listed Thursday as a limited participant in practice.

“It’s better, it’s getting better,” he said. “It’s improving every day, every week, every second. I’m just doing everything for it. I feel like it’s going in the right direction.”

Martindale’s trademark is an aggressive defense, and this season is no different.

The Giants lead the league in blitzes. They do it 38.9% of the time, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. Arizona is next closest at 34.2%.

These Giants are a reflection of their coordinator.

“I think he has a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger to him that some people might not understand,” Jackson said. “But defensively, you have to have that.”

One of the players who has taken considerable steps forward in Martindale’s defense is nose tackle Dexter Lawrence. Both coach Brian Daboll and Martindale have referred to Lawrence as the “centerpiece of the defense.”

And Martindale particularly appreciated one play by Lawrence against the Colts, when he threw guard Quenton Nelson to the ground with one hand and got a sack with the other hand.

“It looked like he just picked him and threw him on top of the quarterback and tackled them both to me,” Martindale said. “Every great defense has a centerpiece. You go back and look at the defense that we’re building with the great defenses of the past, they always have a great centerpiece. And he has definitely become the centerpiece of our defense and I think it’s awesome. I told him yesterday I was so happy for him, proud of him, because he’s a good person, he’s smart and he’s worked his tail off. I think it’s great when you see a player succeed who puts as much work in as he has.”

By

KIMBERLY JONES

kimberly.jones@newsday.com