After being a ‘clean-up crew guy’ with Packers, Blake Martinez excited for fresh start in New York

GREEN BAY — It didn’t take long for Blake Martinez to realize he wasn’t long for Titletown.

The ex-Green Bay Packers inside linebacker tried in vain to fight back tears in the aftermath of the team’s season-ending NFC Championship Game loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 19, realizing he might’ve just played his final game for the team. But it wasn’t until free agency approached and the Packers made their view of him — and the importance, or lack thereof, of the inside linebacker position — clear that he knew it was time to move on.

And so, he did — to the New York Giants, who gave him a three-year, $30 million contract and view him as more valuable than Martinez feels the Packers viewed him under defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.

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“I think the way they value the inside linebacker position especially in that defense, it wasn’t as valued as other places, in my opinion,” Martinez said during a conference call with the New York media Monday — a conversation Martinez said he had while he was “quarantined in a weight room” adjacent to his family’s home in Arizona.

“Overall, it was one of the things where they offered me, and we were just in different wavelengths on where I valued myself and where they valued it. At the end of the day, it was one of the decisions that had to be made on both sides. It’s a business, and right now I am extremely happy where I am and can’t wait to start playing for the Giants and finally get into the facility.”

In truth, it sounds like this might be just what Martinez needs — a fresh start in a new defense with new expectations and responsibilities. In Green Bay, Packers fans grew seemed to grow frustrated with the number of downfield tackles he’d make and how few and far between his splash plays seemed to be. Speaking Monday with reporters who regularly cover the Giants, Martinez gave a glimpse into the Packers defense and what his role was in it.

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“I think that’s the one misconception of me — the public view,” Martinez said. “The way we ran the defense, at least the last two years, is I’m kind of put into the clean-up crew guy. There’s a lot of situations where you see numerous other defenses where it’s like, ‘OK, you have A-B gap responsibility as an inside linebacker, you have one gap responsibility.’

“In our defense no matter what it was, since I was the only (true) linebacker on the field, I was taught and told once again, to be the clean-up crew guy. There wasn’t any gap responsibilities for me. It was just kind of, ‘Hey, play off Kenny (Clark), play off Za’Darius (Smith), play off Preston (Smith), play off Dean (Lowry)’ — play off these guys and basically make them right.

“They were able to do whatever they wanted to do and then I would go make the plays depending on that. I know there’s been things (said) like, ‘You make tackles down the field, you make tackles here, you make tackles there.’ For the majority of the time there, that’s what I was told to do. It’s just me doing my job in that sense. Going into this defense, once I learn being whatever it ends up being how we play. I hope I am able to trigger it, solo gaps, do those type of things and make those type of impact plays.”

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Martinez also defended himself against criticism he struggled in pass coverage, saying the Packers played a lot of match-up zone coverage and that inside linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti told him last season that he was “one of the best, if not the best, zone coverage linebackers I’ve ever been around” despite the outside appearance that he was out of position in coverage at times.

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“Last year we played a lot of match coverage zone … and there were small communication lapses and misunderstandings, where we were able to pass off (assignments),” Martinez said. “From the public perception, you look at it and be like, ‘Oh what the heck? Shouldn’t this guy be covering him? Or shouldn’t Blake be covering him?’ Those types of things.

“Overall, I think I am able to do whatever I’m asked to do. I can go and cover tight ends. I can go and cover running backs. I can play in zones. I can do all of the things that you need to do as an inside linebacker.”

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In New York, he’ll be reunited with Patrick Graham, the Packers’ inside linebackers coach and defensive run-game coordinator in 2018, Pettine’s first year running the Green Bay defense and former coach Mike McCarthy’s final season in Green Bay. Graham spent last season on the Miami Dolphins’ staff before new Giants coach Joe Judge tabbed him to be the Giants defensive coordinator.

“I think it’s going to be an awesome defense,” Martinez said. ““He’s probably one of the smartest coaches I’ve ever been around. Just his ability to get you ready within four to five days. Every single week my third year when he was my inside linebacker coach, I went into the games on Sunday feeling like I knew exactly what plays were going to happen and exactly what I had to do within our scheme. It just made each game so easy to play. That was the biggest thing I got from him throughout that year and got me so excited to be able to work with him again, obviously, coming up again this season.”

Of course, as eager as Martinez is to get to work on his new defense, the COVID-19 pandemic has scuttled those plans, at least temporarily. It’s unclear when NFL teams will be able to start offseason programs — they would have started in mid-April but no one knows when team facilities will even reopen to personnel — so the Giants have been in communication with Martinez and sent him an iPad with last year’s games on it so he can get to know the personnel.

What they haven’t been able to send him is a playbook to give him a feel for the new scheme, since NFL rules don’t permit that. Martinez did say that he did a fair amount of distance learning while in college at Stanford so he feels good about handling that approach if the NFL offseason ends up being wiped out.

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“I’m kind of in limbo right now, just working out, waiting for the next steps,” Martinez said. “Once I’m able to get the playbook that will be my starting point to getting to know the plays and checks and everything.”

A 2016 fourth-round pick, the 6-foot-2, 237-pound Martinez left the Packers having started 57 of the 61 games he played during his four seasons, recording 512 tackles, 10 sacks, three interceptions and two forced fumbles. He finished second in the NFL last season with 155 tackles, his third straight year with more than 140 tackles. He also wore the Packers’ defensive communications helmet the past three seasons.

In New York, the 26-year-old will join a young Giants defense that will look to him to be its leader — as well as the defensive play-caller in the huddle.

“I love having the green dot,” Martinez said. “It’s always been an awesome aspect that I’ve (been) able to have since my rookie year. I’ve grown more and more, and just understanding the things that I need to do within the huddle, out of the huddle, pre-snap, all those things that have just been growing throughout the years. I know Pat’s extremely open and free with communication that he’s going to allow me to do within a given series, within a given game. It’s exciting for me to be able to have that freedom. I can’t wait to be able to go out there and obviously, lead the Giants defense.”

“That’s a positive to me. To be able to have a group that I think is extremely talented, smart guys … It’s going to be cool to grow that group together.”