The New York Giants added a little depth to their defensive line on Monday, signing former second-round pick Jihad Ward.
Ward is a bit of a journeyman, having played for five different organizations prior to joining. One of those stops came in Baltimore where he played under current Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.
“Wink is one of those coaches where basically he’s going to make me extend my career being the best that I can be. Wink is one of the coaches that did a hell of a job with me when I was a Raven so I’m here now and ready to win some games,” Ward told reporters.
Martindale is known as an aggressive, blitz-often play-caller and that fits Ward’s style of play.
“Just coming in with that aggression. Basically, just strong and really the aggression is just some blitzes and stuff. You don’t know when we’re going to come. That’s his type of style. That’s his type of deal. We’re going to come at you,” Ward said of his style of play and Martindale’s system.
But even beyond his aggression, Ward is bringing a high level of football intelligence into the fold. His goal is to make the Giants’ defensive line as savvy as it is dominant.
“I can bring a lot to the team. Basically, the most important thing I can bring to the table is bringing just trying to win games, dominating the edge and then dominating the d-line,” Ward said. “I believe that I can be one of the best and one of the top-tier d-lineman (on the) Giants. So, when you play the Giants, the d-line is going to be one that’s mentioned. So that’s what I can bring to the table.
“I can play all the positions. Everything is really simple. The only thing is with the rest of the d-line that’s here, we’ve just got to basically understand its different types of fronts. When we play a different type of team, we might go straight to base on this one, like a basic front and certain teams, it’s quite difficult for us and we’ll change the scheme up based on whatever the personnel is. It’s basically like a mixture of everything.”
