When Blake Martinez said there are things he needs to work on coming out of Sunday’s preseason finale, he included his sense of direction. After his spectacular interception late in the first quarter of the 22-20 loss to the Patriots at MetLife Stadium, the linebacker celebrated by running all the way to the end zone.
The wrong end zone.
“At that point I didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
It was that dizzying of a play. Martinez was covering wide receiver Jakobi Meyers deep down the field and was actually a step behind him. Then Martinez said he saw Meyers’ eyes get really big and he said he realized: “Oh, he actually threw it!”
Meyers even made the catch, a nice leaping grab. But Martinez went up for the ball, too.
“Once he had it I kind of went to go punch it out but my hand got the ball and I just ripped it out of his hands,” Martinez said.
By the time the two players hit the ground from their synchronized jump, Martinez had possession. Then he raced to the end zone he and his fellow defenders were supposed to be protecting.
For a linebacker whose coverage skills have often been called into question, the play was an example of what he can do in those situations. Of course, it also made Martinez think of himself as something other than a linebacker, if just for a moment.
At halftime defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson scolded his players for letting a linebacker get an interception while they had none.
“I was like, ‘Whoa! I’m part of your group!’” Martinez said. “I try to help them out.”
