NYG Postgame (vs. Arizona Cardinals) Transcripts: LB Blake Martinez
December 13, 2020
Q: How worried were you about not being able to play this game? How do you think you did? How do you feel now?
A: I just focused on getting better each and every day and show the coaches that I had the ability to go out there and perform at the level I know I could. I trusted myself to go out there, and I felt good for the majority of the game. Just need to make sure I keep working on it today and tomorrow to make sure I’m ready for this week and the coming practices.
Q: You guys obviously won a bunch in a row, coming off a big win in Seattle, this was a huge missed opportunity for you guys. What are your thoughts on that and what was the feeling in the locker room after the game?
A: We didn’t perform the way we needed to today. It’s one of those things where you can’t be too high or too low on yourself. Just got to keep going each and every day trying to get better. That’s our plan, just focus on this next week and making sure we make the improvements we have been throughout the season.
Q: He didn’t have any really big runs, but how much of a challenge was (Kyler) Murray that he was able to keep the chains moving for them?
A: (Kyler) Murray is a special player, we knew he was going to make certain plays here and there. We needed to do better keeping him in there and making sure we had our game plan set, we just didn’t play as well as we wanted to.
Q: How difficult was that first half where they started three drives on your side of the 50-yard line? Seemed like you guys were on the field every play and must’ve been gassed.
A: We work on it every single week- making sure we’re conditioned for any situation that comes up, any sudden changes, all of those types of things. It’s one of those things where we have to stand up as a defense and help the offense out, and play complementary football throughout the game, and once again, we didn’t play well enough as a team to make those situations go in our favor.
Q: Obviously you’re trying to win the division, what do you think this does to your chances to do that?
A: I’m going to be honest, I’m not focused on that. For us, I think it’s about focusing on tomorrow, fixing the mistakes from this game, and going about it like we have the whole season, working at it, making sure we improve going into next Sunday and starting with that next game.
Q: Why do you think they had so much success running the ball, especially in the second half?
A: I need to go check the tape, but it’s probably going to come down to what we’ve been through this whole season: just little mistakes here and there, one guy here, one guy there not making the play and getting those stops.
Q: Do you think there was any issue of overconfidence coming into today’s game? Do you feel like this will be a wakeup call even though it’s so late in the season?
A: No, I don’t think it was overconfidence. I think we didn’t play collectively as a team, and when you don’t do that, it’s hard to win. I think for us, it’s just going back and fixing those things that we messed up on and getting back to playing that complementary football that we played for the last four weeks.
Q: What about the idea of a potential wakeup call based on how poorly this game went?
A: Anytime you lose, it’s always a wakeup call. I think really good teams focus on how they can get better whether they won or lost. If you’re able to do that each and every week and correct those mistakes that come up, you’ll be that much better the following week, and that much better as a team.
