Green Bay's Blake Martinez says team 'buckled back in' for win against New York
Blake Martinez
GREEN BAY -- The Green Bay Packers have one more game left this season (vs. the Detroit Lions Sunday, Dec. 31 at Lambeau Field) after beating the New York Jets on Sunday, Dec. 23. FOX6’s Tim Van Vooren went Inside the Huddle with Blake Martinez and asked him about getting that first road win.
Blake Martinez: "Throughout the game, there was a lot of ups and downs and, just as a unit, I think, came into this game -- knew it was going to be a tough road win. We just kind of stuck together through those down moments and made the plays necessary to come up with the win."
FOX6’s Tim Van Vooren: "How draining is a game like this, Blake, because Sam Darnold is rolling up the numbers. They are getting down the field, but in the end, enough defensive resistance gives you guys a chance to win the game."
Blake Martinez: "Yeah, I feel like there was a lot of moments where, one guy here, one guy there, missed tackle here, missed tackle there, and we were just allowing them to get momentum going. We never kind of either stopped them on first down or did the things necessary to slow Sam down, and at that point, he started to get in a rhythm and we kind of just buckled back in and knew what we needed to do -- I think it was 35 to 20 -- knew what we needed to do to get a stop, get the ball back to #12 and let him do his thing."
Blake Martinez
FOX6’s Tim Van Vooren: "You know, you mention #12. There was a lot of talk, obviously, about should he play, should he not play? Should some of you guys play? The stakes were different in this game. The game was a grinder all the way, throughout, but there was pride on the line. We saw it both ways -- for the Jets as well. We certainly saw it from you guys. Where does that come from Blake?"
Blake Martinez: "I think just the mentality of this group. It's an awesome group that we have. Every day we come into work, work hard -- know what we need to do to get better each and every day, and I think the tenacity of this group showed that today and showed in future games to come."
Aaron Rodgers
FOX6’s Tim Van Vooren: "You had some family here. These are big events. Obviously a lot of players, you're in New York City. How do you balance, kind of, holidays are going on. How do you balance the professional requirements of your job with being a young guy in your 20s with a young family?"
Blake Martinez: "It's definitely tough at moments, but with these past three years, I kind of learned how to balance it and understand when I leave work and get done I'm going to set some time aside and make sure hanging out with the family, doing fun stuff -- having date nights, doing those types of things, but then I make sure to set in a certain time period where I'm watching film, diagnosing the game plan of the given team we are playing that week and making sure I'm locked in."
FOX6’s Tim Van Vooren: "So one week to go here -- what's in your mind? What's the expectations for this final week -- a home game against the Lions?”
Blake Martinez: "Once again, being a professional, making the corrections necessary from this game and moving forward and finishing off this last game with a win and kind of moving forward into 2019."
Blake Martinez
FOX6’s Tim Van Vooren: "So whatever -- just deal with the uncertainties, whatever they may be, right?"
Blake Martinez: "Oh yeah, exactly. You don't know what's going to happen, but I'm just going into the off-season working hard and making sure I'm ready to go."
Blake Martinez