Wink Martindale uses Giants' Jaxson Dart to poke fun at Brian Daboll

Wink Martindale did not waste any time.

On Wednesday’s installment of Wednesdays with Wink with Pat Leonard of Talkin’ Ball, the former New York Giants defensive coordinator opened with Jaxson Dart’s Sunday night performance and immediately dragged Brian Daboll into the conversation.

Wink Martindale: Jaxson Dart “looked like a completely different quarterback” running John Harbaugh’s & Matt Nagy’s Giants offense in Week 1

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“I will tell you this: He looked like a completely different quarterback,” Martindale said of Dart. “In the same instance, so did Cam Ward when you turned on the Titans-Jets game.”

The pairing was not accidental. Dart spent his rookie season in 2025 under Daboll before the Giants fired the head coach in November. The quarterback is now running John Harbaugh’s and Matt Nagy’s offense. Ward, the No. 1 pick in that same draft class, is Daboll’s new project as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.

The tape from Week 1 made the contrast easy to see. Dart completed 23 of 29 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-20 win over Dallas, adding 54 rushing yards and staying in command of a Giants attack that converted nine of 10 third downs before the final kneel-down. Ward went 19 of 32 for 140 yards and one late touchdown in a 23-10 home loss to the Jets, with Tennessee managing only 195 total yards.

Martindale framed Dart’s jump as a product of structure, saying the second-year quarterback looked like a player who understood what he was being asked to do and stayed within himself. He offered no such praise for the Titans’ opener.

The history between Martindale and Daboll still hangs over comments like these. The two split in January 2024 after a heated meeting and a messy departure, and Martindale has taken the occasional jab since. This one was quieter than a slammed door, but the message was the same. Dart looked different. So did Ward. Only one of those changes looked like progress.

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Wink Martindale uses Giants’ Jaxson Dart to poke fun at Brian Daboll