Blake Martinez missed most of the 2021 season after tearing his ACL in Week 3, but he has continued to attack his rehab “one day at a time” and continues to progress in the right direction to be ready to roar come training camp.
Being injured gave him what he called a “backseat viewpoint” of the team this year, though, and to a man, he echoed pretty much what every other Giant has said about focusing on improvement.
“Everyone has the same frustration – we’re all competitors and want to win,” he said Monday. “We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we can do better across the board to make everyone better around s. When we get back on the field, it’s about finding those little things, making plays when they come to you, and executing in crucial moments.”
The Giants weren’t a juggernaut last year despite being in the playoff hunt in a weak NFC East until the final game of the year, but after coming from a Green Bay franchise that is a perennial winner (and once again has the NFC’s road to the Super Bowl coming through Lambeau), it would be easy in hindsight to second guess joining a team that is 10-23 in Joe Judge’s two years at the helm.
Martinez, though, doesn’t regret the choice.
“Not at all. Going through my process and decision, I knew this was a young and talented team across the board. Every team in the NFL has that same kind of makeup, it’s being able to execute,” he said. “I look back to last year, and there were a lot of moments where it was right there in close games. To people on the outside, it looks a lot further away than it is, but to us putting the work in on the inside, I know it’s right there; it’s just executing in those crucial moments and getting the momentum going in our favor.”
And, he’s “100 percent” confident the team can turn it around and become a winner.
“I think going through this year, there were a lot of outliers, a lot of injuries and changes across the board. But in the grand scheme, the type of mentality and culture (head coach Joe Judge) instills, everyone comes to work every day and puts the work in, and when you get the ball rolling in the right direction things will start working in our favor.”
Hopefully, that will continue with Joe Judge at the helm.
“I love coach Judge. He’s a great leader, and an extremely smart coach who can coach everyone in any position,” Martinez said. “You can’t put things on one guy or one coach, it takes a collective unit. We all have to build each other up. When we do well, everyone’s happy, and when we’re not, everyone’s not happy – and as the leader of the team, he’s going to take that for the most part. But, he’s an amazing coach who has allowed me to flourish since I’ve been here. When you start seeing the winning moments with him, you’ll see amazing things from this team.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch