Wink Martindale Understandably Caught Off Guard After Xavier McKinney Throws Coaching Staff Under The Bus

New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney let out some of his frustrations following his team's 30-6 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday by calling out the team's coaching staff in front of the media. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale was understandably caught off guard by the comments.

McKinney is one of the Giants' 10 captains, so his opinion certainly means something to the group of players inside the locker room. It's not too often you see players go after coaches for not allowing leaders to lead, but that was the message the former Alabama star sent.

“I think that from a leadership standpoint, I don’t think they’ve done a great job of letting the leaders lead and listening to the leaders and the captains,” McKinney told ESPN after the game. “It was one of those things where you have some of your leaders, captains from a defensive standpoint, trying to switch things up and just not really being heard."

Xavier McKinney shared some comments after the Giants loss to the Raiders that caught Wink Martindale off guard. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)

While that's not a direct shot at Martindale's scheme, his comments contained the phrase 'I don't think they've done a great job,' which is a criticism no coach wants to hear.

Martindale admitted that he was caught by surprise by seeing his comment, but then chalked it up to frustration after an ugly loss.

“It surprised me, because it’s the first time in my career that a player would make a statement like that,’’ Martindale said, according to the New York Post. “First time you read and go, ‘What is he talking about?‘We spoke. We cleared it up. I think it was a case where the kid was just frustrated with losing."

“The example that he gave me of what he was talking about was an in-game adjustment. It really took a while for him to point out to me exactly what it was. What he explained to me was a coverage that we ran one time. He explained that to me afterward. I didn’t hear about it during the game. That’s another reason why it caught me by surprise."

Given Martindale's explanation about McKinney taking a while to give him a firm example of where the issue is all but proves it was mostly based on simple frustration more than anything.

The Giants defense hasn't exactly been atrocious this season, but they haven't been close to good either. New York ranks 21st in yards allowed per game, 11th in passing yards allowed, but 24th in points given up per contest.