Dennard Wilson didn’t name names.
He didn’t need to.
The Giants’ first-year defensive coordinator on Thursday publicly blasted the effort of some of his players — two days after he did the same behind closed doors.
Later Thursday, in the locker room, those players embraced the criticism, as they prepare for this weekend’s trip to Houston, where the Giants need their defense to carry them in quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s first start.
They all know this: If they don’t fix the effort problems that emerged in last Sunday’s loss to the Saints, they won’t win the NFC East, even in a down year for the division.
“I totally agree with him,” slot cornerback Dru Phillips said of Wilson’s criticism. “You watch some of that tape, and you’re like, ‘That’s bulls---.’ We know that we’re better. We took it to heart, as in: Let’s do it — and we’re going to be better at it.”
Phillips was one of the players who loafed against the Saints. So Wilson’s words this week felt uncomfortable for him. That’s just fine with Phillips.
“It’s supposed to be uncomfortable,” he said. “You’re supposed to feel that pressure. We all felt it, and it’s like: We better fix it. It’s an embarrassing moment when you’re not running to the ball in this game. You can’t do that.”
Wilson didn’t like the downfield pursuit and tackling energy on a few plays against the Saints. The most notable was Alvin Kamara’s 31-yard catch-and-run touchdown that broke a 10-10 tie early in the third quarter.
Jason Pinnock whiffed on the initial tackle, though he didn’t loaf. Several of his teammates clearly did — Jevon Holland, Tremaine Edmunds, Phillips and Jihad Ward (who has since been released).
Holland is in the concussion protocol, so he is not permitted to speak with reporters. Edmunds and Phillips did address the play Thursday, after Wilson’s fiery press conference.
Edmunds — who might be out a while with a shoulder injury — mostly dodged questions about his effort. Phillips did not.
Phillips said he expected Pinnock to make the initial tackle, which he noted is “the wrong thing [to do] in football.” Phillips specifically said he did not run hard enough to the ball.
On the sideline after the touchdown, the Giants’ defenders told each other: “Guys, we’ve got to hustle.” So they knew immediately that they had screwed up.
“It’s embarrassing, because you have 10 other guys depending on you,” Phillips said of his lackluster effort. “When you’re not giving that hustle that you should be, you feel like: ‘I let everybody down.’ There’s no excuse for it. I’ve got to hustle.”
Meanwhile, Edmunds — the Giants’ ninth-year middle linebacker — deflected a question about what he could have done differently on Kamara’s touchdown.
“We’re not pointing the finger,” he said. “I’m pretty sure we all have some plays that we wish we had back.”
Still, he said the Giants’ defensive players fully heard and understood Wilson’s message.
“It’s not just his message,” Edmunds said. “It’s our message to each other: What do we want our defense to look like? Because at the end of the day, it’s our defense as players.”
During Tuesday’s defensive meeting, Wilson spotlighted the plays he didn’t like from the Saints game — while directly (and apparently profanely) calling players out by name, including Phillips.
None of the Giants’ players spoke in that meeting. They just listened to Wilson’s angry message and absorbed his critiques.
When Wilson met with reporters Thursday, he vented about his players’ poor effort, putting his frustration out in the open — something his predecessor, the underperforming Shane Bowen, never really did.
“Last week was one of our worst tackling games,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t happy with our effort running to the ball. We put some stuff on tape that was not characteristic of a New York Giant defense. It’s unacceptable, and it will be changed.”
Wilson said he shows those lackluster plays and makes a point of calling out players directly — in both the defensive and full team meeting — for a reason.
“We confront everything,” he said. “I look at guys that don’t run to the ball, and I call them traitors, because they’re traitors to the defense. When you have a traitor to the defense, you either have to make adjustments to get them off the field or they have to correct their behaviors.
“Last week, we did not on every play run to the ball, and it was unacceptable. The guys know it. If your effort is bad, if you have a lack of toughness, it gets pointed out. When you have behaviors that are unacceptable, we’re not going to accept it. And if you don’t change the behaviors, we have to change the players.”
The Giants’ defenders are not surprised by how directly Wilson has handled this situation. It is typical of his black-and-white coaching personality, as they noticed when he arrived with John Harbaugh in the spring.
“Any time you try to be a dynamic defense, honesty is the best policy,” Edmunds said.
Safety Tyler Nubin — who missed the Saints game with a neck injury — said players appreciate how Wilson takes things head-on, while striking an ideal balance between praise and criticism.
“He’s going to shoot you straight,” Nubin told NJ.com. “He’s not going to sugarcoat anything. He’s going to tell you what you’re doing well, as well. He’s just real. That’s what you want out of a coach.
“You want somebody to be honest with you. You don’t want somebody to be blowing smoke up your ass all the time. And you don’t want somebody motherf---ing you and only talking about the things that you did wrong.
“There’s no gray area [with Wilson]. Sometimes, some coaches can give you a little gray area. Some coaches like to cover their own ass, but he doesn’t do that. He doesn’t really care about the outside noise.”
Nubin acknowledged the obvious: Wilson’s approach is “definitely” a change from Bowen, who arrived in East Rutherford alongside Nubin in 2024.
“I’d say he’s a lot more direct,” Nubin said of Wilson. “He’s not going to wait and pull you to the side. He’s going to tell you in front of the whole entire unit. Having that honesty with everybody, it just makes everybody want to play better for each other.”
Last season, when Bowen was fired in November, it became obvious that his less-than-direct approach was the wrong one for these Giants.
How will Wilson’s style play out over the long haul? For now, Pinnock — a sixth-year safety — said the Giants’ players left his meeting with resolve.
“That was probably the best tough meeting to have,” he told NJ.com. “I’ve been in those type of situations where it’s just straight finger pointing [from the coach]. And you walk out, and everybody has their side remarks, like: ‘Ah, man, whatever.’ Nah, that was positive, and it was needed. It’s not like somebody feels targeted.”
Pinnock said this stems from the tight relationships Wilson, 44, has built with his players.
“It’s going to feel personal if I don’t know you,” Pinnock said. “Dennard, he talks to all of us on and off the field, jokes with us, learns our humor. He knows his personnel, so he knows how to get the best out of everybody. I think it was a good meeting.”
So how does Pinnock think the Giants’ defense will respond in Houston?
“How we should: Go get a W,” he said.
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