Giants' Wink Martindale reacts to Xavier McKinney controversy

New York Giants defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale didn't hold back while addressing controversial comments offered by Giants safety and team captain Xavier McKinney shortly after New York's 30-6 loss at the Las Vegas Raiders this past Sunday. 

"It surprised me because it’s the first time it’s ever happened in my career — that a player would make a statement like that," Martindale said while speaking with reporters on Thursday, per Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "I think it was a case where the kid is just frustrated from losing. We spoke. We cleared it up. The example he gave me of what he was talking about was an in-game adjustment. And it really took a while for him to point out to me what exactly it was [during the conversation following the game]. I think you grow from that."

McKinney initially suggested following the defeat that dropped the Giants to 2-7 on the season that he felt individuals such as Martindale and head coach Brian Daboll weren't adequately listening to team leaders regarding comments made during games. On Tuesday, the 25-year-old insisted he and Martindale had since cleared the air and are "on good terms" ahead of this Sunday's contest at the 5-3 Dallas Cowboys. 

"I just told him that it hurts the locker room [and] it hurts the defensive room when you say something like that," Martindale added about what he said to McKinney. "The example I used in front of him and the entire defense is: When you make a statement like that, it puts money in your pockets [as the media covering the story] and takes it out of ours. You just have to understand that it was an emotional thing right after the game." 

Interestingly, Martindale also revealed he "talked to everybody in" the team's defensive room this week to learn if there is "something that we’re not discussing" during games. 

"And to a man, they said, 'no,'" Martindale noted. 

McKinney, who is in the final months of his rookie contract, can't be the only Giants player disheartened by all that's occurred since the opening drive of the Week 1 game against the Cowboys. Injuries have left undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito as New York's starting quarterback until further notice, and oddschecker showed that the Giants were 16.5-point underdogs for this Sunday's matchup as of Thursday afternoon. 

Things likely will get worse for the Giants before they start to improve. How Martindale and Daboll handle the next two months could ultimately determine if they remain with the organization through the start of the new league year in March.