Blake Martinez is calling it quits over a year after announcing his retirement. The former Las Vegas Raiders linebacker has opted to return to the NFL and has already found a new home.
Martinez has signed with the Carolina Panthers’ practise squad, as first reported by Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz in a November 6 X post.
“He’s played a lot of great football,” Panthers head coach Frank Reich said of Martinez at a media conference on November 6. “Will be good to get him in here.”
Martinez announced his retirement from the Raiders last season. He departed the team before the Week 10 game against the Indianapolis Colts to concentrate on selling Pokemon cards. He’s still only 29 years old, thus
Martinez has previously been a very effective linebacker. In 2017, he was the NFL’s co-leader in tackles with 144. He’s had more than 140 tackles in every full season he’s played. The Panthers are surrendering the most points in the NFL this season, at 28.3 per game. Carolina’s defence needs all the help it can get, especially with the offence ranking ninth in the league in scoring (17.5 points per game). Martinez should be elevated to the active roster in the near future.
Jaylon Smith Gets Solid Workload in Debut
For the past several weeks, the Raiders have been suffering with linebacker injuries. Divine Deablo has missed back-to-back games, which contributed to the team signing Jaylon Smith last week.
With Deablo and Luke Masterson both out against the New York Giants in Week 9, the Raiders needed Smith to carry a significant workload. He played 25 snaps, accounting for 40% of the team’s defensive snaps. That’s a respectable workload for a player who hadn’t played since the beginning of the season. Smith’s past experience playing under defensive coordinator Patrick Graham made the adjustment potentially smoother.
Maxx Crosby Talks Defense
Against the Giants, the Raiders perhaps produced their greatest defensive performance in years. It was the first time they had allowed fewer than 10 points in a game since a Week 8 clash with the Cleveland Browns in 2020.
The Giants have the NFL’s worst scoring offence (11.2 points per game), but the Raiders defence was able to overwhelm any club. Maxx Crosby, a defensive end, believes that the defensive improvements are mostly due to increased confidence.
“That’s the confidence you have to have in this league,” Crosby stated during his postgame media availability on November 5, according to The Athletic’s Tashan Reed. “You have to go out there with bad intentions and the intent to win.” We were confident and ready to go, and you could feel it in the building.”
In Week 10, the Raiders face a New York Jets club that is averaging 16.5 points per game, which is third-worst in the NFL. If the Las Vegas defence has genuinely turned things around, it should be another great game. The Raiders face a high-powered Miami Dolphins offence the following week, so they must hold up against the Jets as things only get worse.
