Former Giants linebacker/defensive lineman Jihad Ward posted a highlight package from his two seasons in New York on Instagram, captioning the clip “It’s time.” The first line of the song over the footage is “The kid is back.”
Ward spent 2022 and 2023 with the Giants, playing all 34 games and starting 20. He recorded 8.0 sacks in that span and was a loud, physical presence on the 2022 defense that reached the playoffs and won a postseason game.
Before those years in East Rutherford, he played for John Harbaugh in Baltimore in 2019 and 2020.
Ward's heaviest recent workload came in 2025 with the Tennessee Titans. He finished with 5.0 sacks and 31 tackles on a career-high 708 defensive snaps, about 67 percent of Tennessee’s defensive plays. His coordinator
last season was Dennard Wilson, now the Giants’ defensive coordinator.
After Wilson was hired in New York, Ward praised the coach’s standards.
“If you’re soft and not physical or smart, you will not play,” he told the New York Daily News in January.
Ward called Wilson a “great coach” who “just wants you to ball.”
During his post-preseason press conference earlier this week, general manager Joe Schoen said the Giants were likely to sign at least one more veteran defensive lineman. Could Ward be that guy? He appears to be hinting at it.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Jihad Ward drops hint about potential New York Giants return
