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Former Giants DC Wink Martindale takes veiled jab at Brian Daboll over Jaxson Dart, Cam Ward

Wink Martindale, formerly the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, used the opening week of the season to take a subtle swipe at his ex-head coach Brian Daboll. Speaking on Pat Leonard's podcast, Martindale highlighted the contrasting trajectories of quarterbacks Jaxson Dart and Cam Ward following recent coaching shifts.

Dart shined in New York's Week 1 triumph over the Dallas Cowboys, completing 23 of 29 passes for 230 yards and three scores to produce a higher passer rating than in any rookie appearance under Daboll.

Conversely, Daboll's debut calling plays for the Tennessee Titans proved difficult, as Tennessee fell to the New York Jets while mustering only 10 points. The showing marked a sharp departure for Ward, who had concluded his debut campaign impressively with eight touchdowns against a single interception in his final four matchups, alongside an average rating of 104 across the last three.

Martindale noted that while he is not ready to definitively declare Dart an established star without a larger sample size, both signal-callers looked strikingly altered in Week 1.