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Damien Martinez: “We practice like we hate each other”

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DMoney said:
Damien Martinez has picked up where he left off at Oregon State, with a 6.0 yards per carry average and numerous physical runs. He met with reporters to discuss his season and the RB room:

On the running game in the first half v. the second half: Everybody kind of saw it first half. We came out kind of sluggish and hit a wall. Halftime, we knew what we had to do. We went in there. It was kind of quiet. Everybody knew we were better than that. So we came out in the second half with a different mindset, with everybody trying to execute and do their job the way it was supposed to happen.

But this week is a new opponent and a new week to go 1-0. That is what we're focused on.

On how the running game is settling in: We’re keeping everybody fresh. We’ve got a long season, so we’ll continue to feed off each other's energy and make an impact on the game. I feel like the team's coming together. We’re getting reps with each other, more practice, and going out there trying to execute. Whatever team executes the most is going to win. That's all it's about.

On Cam Ward: Every day, same person. Consistent. He wants to come out and be as detailed as he can and make everybody as detailed as they can to execute and play faster. We want to play as fast as we can without having to think. Just doing our job, creating big plays or chunk plays, working down the field. We want to execute every play. Every play is its own play. Cam is making sure we're detailed and know what we're doing so we can all go out, do our job, and be at the right spot.

[The TD dive] shows how much of a competitor he is, how competitive this team is. We go at each other every day, practice like we hate each other, but love each other off the field. It's how we get better. It's how we prepare for each week. We’re trying to go 1-0 every week. It’s a new chance to win and continue what we got going.

On the status of the offense: We’ve got a long season. We’ve got plenty of games to get better and plenty of practices to get better. We don't want to stay where we're at. We always want to continue to get better 1% every day. It's what we're built to do.

This offense can be as explosive as can be. We just have to be detailed and execute. That's really what it comes down to. Sorry I keep saying it, but execution is what wins the game. We just need to execute doing our job and we're going to win.

On Jordan Lyle: Everybody sees he's a bigger freshman, just the way he's built. But it’s how creative he is, how he tries to understand everything, just soaking up all the knowledge he can to be better and more detailed. He looks good running the ball. He's a natural runner. But as long as he stays down the path he is on and tries to get better every day, he's going to be great.

On the running back room: We’ve got depth everywhere. One, two, three. We just want to keep everybody fresh and keep everybody playing. Everybody in the running back room can play. Everybody can see we all got our own game. This is how it goes into the game plan and how it plays out. We’ve just got to execute and everybody in the room needs to feed off each other's energy. We just want to impact the game whenever each one of us is in and be happy for the other that the other made a play.

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Great to have such quality depth in the RB room. Good for the team and the individuals.

For the guys with NFL dreams, being in a loaded room is a big +. Absolutely no reason to be a 20 carry per game guy in college. Do your thing and show what you've got, but keep the majority of the tread on your tires for the NFL.
 
homeboy looks like he prefers to patiently stand behind linemen instead of being sudden and getting upfield. He thrived in that I-formation before coming here, but he seems like poor fit in this offense. I feel like our offense would flow much better with 4 and 21 getting more run...
 
PUNCICANE said:
homeboy looks like he prefers to patiently stand behind linemen instead of being sudden and getting upfield. He thrived in that I-formation before coming here, but he seems like poor fit in this offense. I feel like our offense would flow much better with 4 and 21 getting more run...
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Chris Johnson needs to get used more. Every time he touches the ball it's a potential house call.
 
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PUNCICANE said:
homeboy looks like he prefers to patiently stand behind linemen instead of being sudden and getting upfield. He thrived in that I-formation before coming here, but he seems like poor fit in this offense. I feel like our offense would flow much better with 4 and 21 getting more run...
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21 yes, but I think eventually this dude has to get rolling. Got fresh legs I still believe he will eat eventually. But 21 you give alot of touches too, pause
 
AtlAtty said:
Am I the only one worried about college kids playing 16-17 games a season? Won’t that have the potential of shortening their pro careers, fi they have them? Snaps are biologically limited.
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The NIL and conference contract value has to come from somewhere.

🤷‍♂️
 
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PUNCICANE said:
homeboy looks like he prefers to patiently stand behind linemen instead of being sudden and getting upfield. He thrived in that I-formation before coming here, but he seems like poor fit in this offense. I feel like our offense would flow much better with 4 and 21 getting more run...
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Y’all keep saying this like Martinez is getting 20 carries a game. He is averaging 11 carries a game. Fletcher is averaging like 5 or 6. Lyle is averaging 6
 
AtlAtty said:
Am I the only one worried about college kids playing 16-17 games a season? Won’t that have the potential of shortening their pro careers, fi they have them? Snaps are biologically limited.
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Not strictly biologically limited. It's what you do during the play and in preparation. The human body really isn't designed for that level of peak conditioning for that long.

Here we rotate so many guys that 17 games equals a normal schools 10 worth of snaps.

But with how short NFL careers are I really don't think there will be a noticable impact. Certainly there must be some.
 
mcnaire2004 said:
Not strictly biologically limited. It's what you do during the play and in preparation. The human body really isn't designed for that level of peak conditioning for that long.

Here we rotate so many guys that 17 games equals a normal schools 10 worth of snaps.

But with how short NFL careers are I really don't think there will be a noticable impact. Certainly there must be some.
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And won’t the same issue occur in the NFL when that league expands to 18 regular season games?
If I was the NFLPA I would push very hard to lower the number of years necessary before a player receives a pension. Right now I believe a player must make a team in his third season after final cuts to be eligible. But that was based on a 16 game season. I would argue, if I was the NFLPA, that the player should become pension eligible after playing ____ games, not seasons.

But I digress.

NIL is to college football/basketball what revenue sharing is to pro sports. More and more games needed to pay the cost.
 
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