NEW YORK — Wink Martindale coached with John Harbaugh for a decade in Baltimore, and he has a message for despondent Giants fans in the wake of Jaxson Dart’s season-ending surgery:
“I don’t think it’s time for everybody to put bags on their heads and show up to the stadium that way,” Martindale said, tongue-in-cheek, on the Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast.
Martindale said “a new challenge invigorates” Harbaugh. He is excellent at turning adversity into an opportunity for his team.
And sure enough, that’s exactly what Harbaugh did at Wednesday’s team meeting with Dart present. Harbaugh recognized the gravity of the moment.
“This was a big meeting,” Harbaugh said. “A lot of water went under the bridge in the last 30 hours. So we just had to talk about it, and we just put it out there: This is where we’re at. This is how we’re looking at it. We tried to lay out where we’re going and what our mindset is.”
Safety Jevon Holland said the meeting “was great” from the players’ perspective.
“He does a great job of extracting a lesson out of whatever the situation is,” Holland said at his locker. “Whether it’s a win, a loss. There’s a reason why he’s Coach John Harbaugh, why he has the pedigree that he does. Because he’s a f------ great coach, to be honest.
“I think where he’s best at is in these situations,” he added, “getting the team to see the lesson in the loss and capitalize on that into Week 3.”
Holland said Harbaugh had set the tone before the season by putting the message “win and learn” on a whiteboard before their first game of the season against the Dallas Cowboys.
“Instead of a win or a loss, it’s you’re either winning or you’re learning,” Holland said. “And you’re learning how to continue to be better and to grow.”
Harbaugh said Dart is “determined,” but he’s “bummed.” So the team had to properly acknowledge the loss but also turn the page.
“With injuries, there’s a certain mourning that takes place,” Harbaugh said. “We had the same thing for [wide receiver] Calvin [Austin]. Because you realize how hard it is for the player. [And] it’s tough on the team. It’s tough on all of us.”
Then it was about putting the whole letdown in perspective.
“You feel like it’s the end of the world, and then you wake up and the world’s not done,” Harbaugh said. “Games keep getting played. Nobody feels sorry for you. It’s time to play the next game.
“We’re gonna have to be the best football team we can be,” he added. “And it’s not a one-man game. It’s not like tennis. You don’t forfeit. We’re gonna have our team out there. The Giants are gonna roll out onto the field and play that football game, and we need to be the best Giants we can be. And that’s really the message.”
Martindale said Harbaugh will “get everybody in the same mindset” on whatever the new game plan has to be without Dart. It can be done. There are other teams winning without their starter as they speak.
“It’s very similar to what Minnesota has done with Carson Wentz when Kyler Murray went down,” Martindale said. “That’s one of things that unfortunately is the way of the league. You hate to have it when it’s your quarterback. It’s hard enough when it’s a corner or other positions, but especially at the quarterback position.
“But you have to get your mind right,” he added. “Because automatically that gives people a reason in their mind to not play as hard and long. And you have to get your mind right going into the game, ‘Hey, this is gonna be a slugfest.' ”
Martindale called on Giants fans to create the same kind of atmosphere for Harbaugh and the Giants that they did in Week 1.
“If that crowd is anything like when they played Dallas, that’s a homefield advantage,” Martindale said. “That crowd was electric when they played the Cowboys.
“It’s gonna be a great challenge, but they got the right guys to do it,” the veteran defensive coordinator said. “I know John. We’ve been in this situation before. It’s a tough spot to be in. But as long as everyone is pulling in the same direction and accepting the challenge, they can do it.”