LB Blake Martinez
December 2, 2020
Q: Obviously, Russell Wilson this week. What makes this guy so good?
A: I don’t know if the media session is long enough. But I think he’s just able to do it all. He’s able to extend plays, make the deep ball passes, get the guys in the right check at the right time, make the big plays when they’re needed to be made, knows how to get his team back in the game. I can keep going on and on. He’s just an incredible player.
Q: I know in this situation, a lot of times players when a backup quarterback might play, they always say ‘I have confidence in whoever it is.’ You go against Colt McCoy in practice almost every day, and we hear about the exploits and how he does against the first team defense. Is there any reason why other than the normal you saying you have confidence in him, why you really might have confidence in him?
A: I know when it first happened, and obviously, going into this week, the first thing I told him was ‘I’m happy I don’t have to go against you on Friday.’ We have a fast Friday. He does kind of the whole two-minute drill, all that type of stuff. He tries to do certain plays, no-look passes, all these types of things. I’ve had confidence in him every single time we’ve had practice, every single day he’s been here. I’m excited for him to get the opportunity come Sunday.
Q: Is there an onus on the defense maybe to kind of look and say ‘look, our starting quarterback might not be there. We have to even do more to protect our offense because Daniel is not there’?
A: No, I think overall just as a defense, our biggest thing is improving each and every week. Any guy we put out there, whether it’s on offense, defense or special teams, you know that they’re out there for a reason. Everybody here knows they can get the job done. When we go out there, we know we have to do better than we did last week and just make every play that comes to us. Like I said, just keep improving.
Q: I don’t think I’m talking out of school when I say that the level of competition is going to go up this week and probably the next couple of weeks. What does that mean for the team? Are you looking forward to this challenge? Do you see this as a good way to measure yourself against the top teams in the conference and the league?
A: Definitely. I think as a competitor, you want to have these opportunities to play teams like this. I think every week, it’s hard to win no matter who you’re playing. I think for us throughout this season, it’s always been a play here, a play there at least at the beginning of the season. Now you’re starting to see everything kind of come together for us across the board. I think this is just another test for us to show that and like I said earlier, show that improvement each and every week and go and make those plays to win the game.
Q: The Seahawks have twice as many wins as you. I’m guessing that you don’t feel that they’re twice as good a team as you?
A: No, definitely not. I think especially us as a team, we have full confidence in us. We know throughout the season, it’s always been certain things that we’ve done that have hurt us. I know that us as a team, when we go out there and play the way we can play, we know we can hang with anyone and we’re a really good team.
Q: When you look at the standings, you lead the NFC East based on the technicality of beating Washington twice. Do you feel like a first place team?
A: I don’t think we really think about that. I think we look at ourselves as a team that’s getting better each and every week. That’s a really… Coach Judge always talks about it, that we’re a team going like this (hand gesture ‘up’). That’s really all we’re focused on each and every week. As long as we’re doing that, as long as we’re improving each and every week as individuals and then as a team, things are going to go in our favor. We’re going to keep showing that every single Sunday.
Q: Do you even think about things like you control your own destiny now?
A: Yeah, I think overall throughout the whole season, I think you think that way. Everybody started 0-0, so as long as you go out every single week and go out and win and improve, you’re going to control your own destiny. Especially once you come to this November, December football, that’s the best time to play your best ball and I think that’s where we want to be moving forward.
Q: To sort of build off those questions they just asked, I’m curious I know you guys believe it, but how much do you think this team needs to beat one of these top teams or these winning teams that you’re playing in these next four-game stretch to prove to everyone outside the building that you’re a good team and a serious contender?
A: To be honest, I don’t think we care too much about the outside opinion. For us in general, we want to go out there and show our own improvement and show ourselves that we can go and finish those types of games. Kind of going back to earlier in the season, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot multiple times where we could have won multiple games early on. We want to show that we’re that winning type of team and go finish those, like I said, that November and December football.
Q: Obviously, you said how physically talented Russell is. From the pre-snap, post-snap chess match that you guys have with essentially the quarterback every week, I’m just curious is that chess match different with a guy like Russell? Do you look forward to going up against a quarterback like that? What does that look like? What is that preparation like for you guys?
A: Whenever you go up against that type of caliber player, especially at the quarterback position, it makes it a really fun week, especially for me, to go in and kind of dissect what he does and how he kind of adapts throughout the game, what he does to get his team back into it, certain plays, certain formations, all these types of things that go into it. I think it’s going to be a great challenge. It’s going to be something that we have to keep going. Obviously, they’re a great team and they’re going to make plays. But being able to, like you said, make that adjustment during the game and kind of get certain looks that he’s not going to recognize, and kind of get him two steps behind if you can.
