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TUCSON, Ariz. — Activities director and restaurant guide were not supposed to be roles Blake Martinez filled for the Giants, but there he was the past few days, clueing his teammates in on what to do and where to eat.
He was born and raised in this Sonoran Desert city, where the Giants spent the week practicing on the campus of the University of Arizona. He is on this extended road trip because his left knee is healed sufficiently enough for him to travel and healthy enough for him to protect himself on the sideline. There have not been linebacker duties for him ever since he tore his anterior cruciate ligament back in Week 3 against the Falcons, making this a lost season for him.
Not participating is tough for Martinez, who was elected a team captain. He had been a player who never came off the field and used to serve as the go-between from defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to the players on the field. Now that he is around the team on a regular basis — he was not around much soon after his reconstructive surgery — Martinez does his best to help tutor the inside linebackers, working closely with Tae Crowder, who started alongside Martinez early in the season and then took over Mart inez’s defensive play-calling assignment.
“Being able to talk to him, whether he comes into the training room while I’m rehabbing or in the locker room,’’ Martinez said Friday. “I’ll be in meetings every now and then depending on my rehab schedule and be able to talk to the guys, and I watch every game. So, talking through to him on what he can kind of change up, what he can see, how he can hit things quicker and those types of things.’’
Martinez said his recovery is proceeding on schedule. He wears a brace on his left knee, he can walk and has begun light weight-training.
“Nothing heavy or anything,’’ he said. “It’s been good to finally — mentally for me — to be able to do stuff like that again.’’
With all the injuries the Giants sustained on offense, losing Martinez was a huge blow. He called the injury “definitely a tough moment, but for me’’ but once the shock wore off he accepted it as a challenge.
“Obviously it sucks to happen, but it’s something I can put on my bucket list of something I worked through and came back and conquered,’’ he said.
This return home for Martinez has been interesting. The Giants practiced at his hometown college and a football program that was not interested in him.
“I have my bittersweet moments here,’’ Martinez said. “They didn’t want me to play here, so I went to Stanford and became smart.’’
He has served a useful purpose this week. He took his teammates to Guadalajara Grill (“My favorite Mexican food spot’’) and arranged a team dinner at No Anchovies, a pizza joint owned by his father’s cousin. He will accompany the team to the Los Angeles area for Sunday’s game against the Chargers, working his way back to the field one day at a time.
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