Last week, LB Blake Martinez was made a game day inactive against the Cincinnati Bengals despite playing a solid number of snaps the week before against the New England Patriots.
With starting ILB Elandon Roberts dealing with a pec injury that will keep him out of this week’s game against the Seattle Seahawks, head coach Mike Tomlin said during his weekly Tuesday press conference that Martinez will get another chance to prove himself as the team continues to deal with attrition at the inside linebacker position.
“We’ll probably give Blake Martinez another opportunity this week,” Tomlin said to the media on video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “With Elandon being in the state that he’s in, but Blake’s been in the stadium with us before and been here for a while now. So, probably less troublesome than it was the last time that we called on him, for example.”
After conducting a film room on Martinez’s performance in his first game action as a Steeler against the Patriots, it was clear that he was knocking off some rust after not seeing the field since last season. He played 21 defensive snaps (37%) and made four total tackles (two solo) along with missing a tackle. Martinez was relegated to mostly early downs, being that his skill set best suits a downhill thumper who fills gaps and can stack and shed blocks against the run. He did operate well in that area of the game, making some notable tackles against the Patriots. Still, he missed a key tackle attempt at the end of the game and didn’t look too comfortable in coverage while running with tight ends in the open field.
Still, Pittsburgh looks ready to give Martinez another chance this coming weekend against Seattle with Roberts out as well as the play of ILB Mykal Walker being shaky at best since the former Atlanta Falcon made his way into the starting lineup. ILB Myles Jack stepped up in a big way when Roberts went down and could start alongside Walker or ILB Mark Robinson who has seen a good amount of snaps the last couple of weeks himself.
There is a chance though that Pittsburgh could opt to sit Walker and start both Jack and Martinez, who both have ample experience as NFL starters. Both veterans may no longer be in their respective primes, both having retired for a stint before coming back to play in 2023. Still, with the Steelers now having lost their top three inside linebackers from the start the season, the team will rely more on Martinez and Jack to provide that veteran leadership and stability at a position that has been rocked by injuries.
