Wink Martindale addresses relationship with Brian Daboll, Giants future

New York Giants defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale insisted ahead of the upcoming "Monday Night Football" home game versus the 6-6 Green Bay Packers that he and head coach Brian Daboll are on the same page. 

"We’re fine," Martindale said about his relationship with Daboll during a Friday news conference, as shared by Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. "It’s the same thing that it was last year. It’s just different because we were winning more games."

Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer raised eyebrows when he reported in late November that Martindale and Daboll were in such a "bad place" when the team was 3-8 that the two could agree to a parting of the ways after the season or even before Week 18. The Giants then improved to 4-8 via a 10-7 win over the New England Patriots that preceded New York's bye. 

"When you’re 4-8 instead of 8-4, things like that come up," Martindale explained, per Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "...There’s nothing you can do when someone says something. There’s nothing that’s happened [negatively between Martindale and Daboll] that way. We’re building something here. I think you’ve just got to stay focused on that."

Daboll previously poured cold water over the Glazer story and made it clear before the team's break that he was done discussing the matter publicly until further notice. Martindale embraced a more humorous approach ahead of the weekend. 

"Every time my key card works, it’s not like I go, 'Yeah!' I’ll [instead] be like, 'Hey, this son of a [gun] doesn’t work anymore,'" Martindale joked. "I don’t make that decision. So I can’t answer that question."

Martindale, 60, also said he'd like to remain with the Giants through the offseason. 

Daboll and his staff have more important things to worry about considering the ESPN Football Power Index still gave the Giants a 0.1% chance to make the playoffs as of Friday afternoon. At that same time, oddschecker listed Big Blue as a 6.5-point underdog against the Packers. 

According to ESPN stats, the Giants defense began Friday ranked 28th in the NFL in yards allowed per game (364.3) and 26th in points allowed per contest (24.3) for the season.