Dennard Wilson sounds like he is on the cusp of benching Benedict Arnold. 

No, the Giants didn’t acquire a new defensive player with an infamous military name, but Wilson has a term for players who gave less than full effort during the surrendering of 34 consecutive points to the Saints in a 34-27 loss. 

“We confront it like we confront everything,” the defensive coordinator said before Thursday’s practice. “I look at guys that don’t run to the ball and I call them ‘traitors’ because they are traitors to the defense. 

“When you have a traitor to the defense, you either have to make adjustments to get them off the field and get somebody else on the field, or they have to correct their behavior. Last week was one of those things where we did not — on every play — run to the ball. It was unacceptable. This week, they will be flying around 100 miles per hour with their hair on fire.” 

The Giants missed 13 tackles against the Saints, according to Pro Football Focus. Wilson did not name names, but the most egregious film shows widespread jogging after missed tackles by Jason Pinnock and Jevón Holland on Alvin Kamara’s screen catch for a touchdown. 

“If you are not doing something to help the team and you are hurting the team, if your effort is bad, if you have a lack of toughness, it gets pointed out,” Wilson said. “It gets pointed out in front of everybody. Not only in the defensive meeting. It gets pointed out in the full team meeting. When you have behaviors that are unacceptable, we’re not going to accept it. If you don’t change the behaviors, we’re going to change the players.” 

Giants Defensive Coordinator Dennard Wilson speaks at a press conference as the New York Giants practice at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post

Slow-to-react Dru Phillips was twisted around and on the ground as Kamara cut into the end zone. 

“[We reacted] like, ‘That’s bulls–t, and we know that we are better,’ ” Phillips said. “Effort-wise, we took it to heart as like, ‘Let’s do it.’ Everybody backside, the wrong thing in football is expecting somebody else is going to make the play.” 

John Harbaugh’s Giants have benched or demoted Cam Skattebo, Paulson Adebo, Darius Alexander, Tyler Nubin, Tyrone Tracy Jr., John Michael Schmitz and cut Jihad Ward, Darius Slayton and Odell Beckham Jr. for various reasons. 

Contracts, draft position and name recognition don’t carry the get-out-of-jail-free card that they did under former head coach Brian Daboll, whose program was light on accountability, according to those who walked the halls over those four years. 

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs after a catch for a 31-yard touchdown against the New York Giants during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

By contrast, Wilson’s meeting was “uncomfortable.” 

“It’s supposed to be uncomfortable,” Phillips said. “You are supposed to feel that pressure. We all felt it. Better fix it.” 

Was Wilson as specific as to say, “Hey, Dru, you need to give a better effort here?” 

“That’s a nicer way to put it,” Phillips laughed. “He definitely pointed it out, as you should in the moment. It’s an embarrassing moment when you are not running to the ball in this game. Can’t do that. He calls you out.” 

Former defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson called out Deonte Banks publicly for a lack of tackling effort in 2024 after repeated attempts to get through to him behind the scenes didn’t land. Daboll fired Henderson after the season. 

Pinnock isn’t worried about Wilson’s approach flopping. Look no further than Wilson helping Banks turn around his career. 

“There’s two different approaches: Wash this and move on, and then this,” Pinnock told The Post. “It’s hard to attack somebody and not make it feel personal if you don’t have a personal relationship with them. Dennard earns that because he does. We spoke about the Kamara play and I never felt targeted in any way. I felt like how I felt watching it myself: I have to get him down, and he believes in me to do it.” 

When the meeting broke up, Pinnock said there wasn’t any griping. 

Running back Alvin Kamara #41 of the New Orleans Saints breaks away from safety Jason Pinnock #25 of the New York Giants. Bill Kostroun for NY Post

“The reaction after, when coach isn’t there anymore and people are having their little side [talks], there wasn’t much of that,” Pinnock said. “Honestly, I think he gained a lot of respect. You’d think like, ‘He just motherf–ked us. F–k that dude.’ No, it was. ‘I respect that. I can win and lose with him.’ ” 

D.J. Reader is a well-traveled 11-year veteran who has been through many difficult team meetings. He called Wilson’s meeting “a good challenge.” 

“The first day you get a challenge, you probably take it a little personal — and, if you are true competitor, you look inward and see where you can get better,” Reader said. “I don’t think it’s rare for it to happen — we just don’t talk about it as much in the media — but every coach is coaching effort. It’s all about, ‘Can we give more effort and more effort?’ I think we can.” 

Reader said “traitor” doesn’t bother him. He had other coaches call lack of effort “treason.” 

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“It’s the message that you are trying to send and understand what you’re doing to the guy next to you and not the words being used.” 

It wasn’t just the Kamara play that was highlighted in the meeting. Every corner of the room was targeted. 

Back to the fundamentals of tackling. 

“Instead of going near hip, near half and trying to run through a ball carrier, we stuttered our feet,” Wilson said. “When you stutter your feet, you give them a two-way go. So, we have to be like heat-seeking missiles.”