Wink Martindale

Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale likes how his first Giants defense is starting to take shape.

There are only two more practices left before the Giants break for the summer. Tuesday, the Giants kicked off the first three-day minicamp of the Brian Daboll era. It was a 2.5-hour practice, with most of the 11-on-11 team drills taking place in the latter half of practice. Everyone was...

Wink Martindale has an objective for the Giants defense:. Keep offensive coordinators up at night. “You want to dictate to the offense instead of sitting there and letting them dictate to you,’’ Martindale, the Giants’ new defensive coordinator, said last week. “I would rather them have the headache and stay up five nights before we play them figuring out what we’re going to do and try to present different looks every time we play — because pressure does break pipes, that’s our philosophy.’’

It’ll be all hands on deck for the NY Giants secondary in 2022 following the release of veteran starters James Bradberry and Logan Ryan. With most of the rotation composed of first- and second-year players, Adoree Jackson and Xavier McKinney will really have to step up as leaders. A promising sign for what’s to come? The early reports from organized team activities suggests Jackson is making a seamless transition embracing a leadership role.

The New York Giants have featured one of the league’s most conservative defenses over the past few years, playing a “bend don’t break” style of football. With a questionable pass rush, they relied heavily on dominant defensive backs to help cover the defensive backfield, sometimes for far too long, which put them in a liable spot.

Martindale inherits a defense that lost its top corner, James Bradberry, to a cap casualty cut, but he likes what he’s seen in OTAs so far from the group in camp.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Don ‘Wink’ Martindale, defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, talked about defensive philosophy, career aspirations, expectations for first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux and more during a meeting with media members at Thursday’s OTA. Let’s get to some of the takeaways. Defensive...