Blake Martinez looked like the same-old dominant inside linebacker at Giants training camp, except for one noticeable difference — he no longer donned a red, no-contact jersey.
Martinez’s appearance Wednesday morning marked the 28-year-old’s first practice in more than 10 months since sustaining a season-ending torn ACL in Week 3 versus the Falcons.
Following a spring in which he didn’t participate in any live drills at OTAs or minicamp, some feared Martinez would land on the physically unable to perform list heading into training camp. Those fears were put to rest, however, as soon as the veteran stepped onto the practice field.
Though Martinez wasn’t cleared for a full workload just yet, he actively participated in individual linebacker drills and red zone walk-throughs, additionally helping to strip the ball from running back Saquon Barkley and force an incompletion on the goal line. Shortly after the strong practice, the sure-tackling linebacker admitted he had doubts this offseason surrounding his playing ability post-injury.
“It’s always one of those things that you think about, but throughout my training and everything, every aspect has been better than I was than when I wasn’t hurt,” Martinez said. “That’s been a very positive thing for me moving forward and just kept getting me more and more excited to get out there on the field.”
Martinez signed with the Giants in the 2020 offseason for three years, $30.7 million. The Stanford-product immediately proved worthy of the contract, leading the team in tackles with 151. In the three previous seasons prior with the Packers, he led Green Bay each year with 144 or more tackles.
Martinez was named one of the Giants’ seven team captains in 2021 but saw his season come to an abrupt end due to his non-contact knee injury on the fifth play in Week 3’s contest. While rehabbing from the setback, he claims the greatest obstacle was having to watch his teammates compete without him.
“Just watching other people doing what you love to do and just wanting to be out there and help your team win, I think that was the toughest point,” Martinez said. “I tried to do little things whether it was just coach up guys on the sideline and do whatever I could in the meetings, but it’s still not the same.”
Following his injury and the arrival of a new regime, Martinez and the Giants agreed to a salary reduction this offseason so that he could remain with Big Blue.
Now reunited with his teammates on the field, Martinez will look to once again cement himself as a leader of the Giants’ defense. For now, however, he’s focused on knocking the rust off and taking it one day at a time.
“I think for me it’s just listening to the trainers, they will slowly ramp me up as we go,” Martinez said. “We will talk back and forth after each practice to see if I can add some stuff in as we keep moving through training camp.”