Giants’ Adoree’ Jackson says Brian Daboll would be ‘crazy’ to fire Wink Martindale — and he’s right

Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson thinks his head coach, Brian Daboll, would be “crazy” to fire defensive coordinator Wink Martindale .

And Jackson is right.

Because of all the problems the Giants have — and they have problems — Martindale is low on the list.

Has Martindale’s defense underwhelmed at times, given the lofty expectations of him? Sure. But firing Martindale — either now or after the season — would not solve nearly enough (or maybe any) of the Giants’ issues.

Plus, Martindale’s group has played much better lately. While the Giants improved to 4-8 with Sunday’s 10-7 home win over the Patriots — the Giants’ second straight victory, entering their bye week — their defense held New England to 283 yards and had three takeaways (all interceptions).

Yes, the Patriots’ offense — led by Mac Jones and then Bailey Zappe — underwhelmed again. Still, this was a strong showing by Martindale and Co.

Amid the fallout from a pregame report of growing tension between Daboll and Martindale, Daboll after Sunday’s win gave Martindale the game ball . Daboll also brushed off the report in his press conference, as you’d expect.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Wink,” Daboll said. “Glad he’s on the staff.”

Daboll joked that his biggest argument with Martindale has been about “who gets the last piece of pizza.”

A few minutes later, Jackson — a seventh-year pro in his third season with the Giants — offered a spirited defense of Martindale.

“I think losing a guy like Wink would be a huge blow,” Jackson said. “And that’s why I don’t think [Daboll] will do it. Because at the end of the day, if you’re going to do something like that, I don’t know, that would be crazy.

“Why would it be crazy? To be honest, that’s like, let’s say you were a kid, and you see your parents get into it — and then they get a divorce. Then you’re sitting there like, ‘Damn, what the f- is going on?’ That’s how I personally feel it would be, if that situation was to happen. I would be like, ‘What the hell is going on? Did we do something wrong?’ It’s too much confusion. That’s how I view it as.”

Before Sunday’s game, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that the Daboll/Martindale relationship is currently full of “tension,” that they’re “in a bad place,” and that they could be heading for a split, perhaps even during this season.

The bye week is usually a time when coordinator firings happen. But it seems highly unlikely that Daboll would make the move now, given how Martindale’s defense has performed lately. Maybe it could happen after the season. Yet right now makes little sense — and Martindale’s players believe that, too.

Daboll, a rookie head coach last season, hired Martindale to lead his defense. Daboll is an offensive-minded coach, so Martindale has full control of this Giants defense. Daboll better be sure, if he does fire Martindale, that he can find someone who will be an upgrade. Would he actually be able to do that?

There’s a chance Daboll enters 2024 on the hot seat — even if a high draft pick quarterback gives him some grace from ownership — so is there a big-time defensive coordinator who wants to join a situation like that?

Even though the Giants have won back-to-back games (for the first time all year), they’re still mired in a miserable season. It would not be a surprise if Daboll made changes to his staff. That’s just how things go after a season like this.

Which means it’s entirely possible that one or more of his coordinators — Martindale, Mike Kafka (offense), Thomas McGaughey (special teams) — gets a pink slip, especially since Daboll could take over offensive play calling.

Of those three — based on what we’ve seen lately from Martindale’s defense — firing Martindale makes the least sense. And doing it during the season, maybe even during the bye, clearly would not go over well in Daboll’s locker room.