Newly acquired New York Giants inside linebacker Blake Martinez had some kind words for coordinator Patrick Graham via a conference call.
On Monday night, one of the newest New York Giants was finally able to speak to the media as a whole. Inside linebacker Blake Martinez, who agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal earlier this month, took part in a conference call and addressed a number of topics.
What’s interesting about Martinez coming to East Rutherford is that he’ll be reuniting with Patrick Graham. The Giants hired Graham to be their defensive coordinator in January after he was previously Martinez’s linebackers coach in Green Bay for the 2018 campaign.
Ultimately, Martinez had some kind and motivating words for his new coordinator.
Martinez said he never felt unprepared for a play.
— Dan Salomone (@Dan_Salomone) March 30, 2020
Martinez portrayed his talents in Green Bay for four years after the Packers selected him in the fourth round (No. 131 overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. After combining for just 69 total tackles his rookie season, he racked up 144, 144, and 155 combined tackles from 2017-19, respectively. In 2017, he was the league’s co-leader in that statistic.
The veteran will be lining up alongside guys like David Mayo, who just re-signed with New York, and Ryan Connelly, who will look to return healthy after suffering a torn ACL last year. The average age of the three is just over 25 years old. This, paired with the mostly inexperienced secondary, makes for an extremely young defense. Nonetheless, Martinez is displaying excitement.
Martinez on joining a young team and young defense: "I think that's a positive to me." He said it's an extremely talented group with smart players. "It's going to be kind of cool to grow that group together."
— Dan Salomone (@Dan_Salomone) March 30, 2020
Martinez will likely find himself in a starting role. He’ll also be teaming up with a familiar face in Kyler Fackrell, who additionally played for the Packers from 2016-19. The Giants and Fackrell agreed to a one-year, $4.6 million deal earlier in March.
