Martellus Bennett Doesn't Care About Fantasy Stats, Just Winning Real Football Games
BOSTON (CBS) -- On the field or in the locker room, you never really know what you're going to get out of Martellus Bennett.
The outspoken Patriots tight end didn't light up the stat sheet in New England's Week 1 win over the Cardinals, but has been praised for his role in the blocking game, allowing New England's running backs and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo enough time and space to operate against a talented Arizona defense.
That may have annoyed some fantasy football owners who thought Bennett would be a gold mine of points once Rob Gronkowski was declared out for the Patriots' season opener, but Bennett isn't living in an imaginary world -- no matter how far out there he may seem.
As long as he helps the Patriots win, that's all Bennett cares about.
"A lot of people, they equate how well you do in a game to fantasy football or how many points you scored them. But there are so many intangible things that happen in the game that so many people overlook, except for your teammates. When you go out there, I'm trying to do everything I possibly can do to get a win on the football field and the real column, not the fantasy football column," Bennett told reporters at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday. "If it's blocking, pass-protection, catching the ball, get a big first down -- whatever it may be, that's what I'm here for.
"I'm not really here to catch 1,000 balls. I've caught 90 balls and lost a bunch of games; it's not that fun," said Bennett. "Whatever it takes to win, that's what I'm here for."
Bennett said he didn't sleep on the flight back from Arizona on Sunday night, too amped up from the victory to get any shuteye.
"Winning is contagious," he said. "And losing is contagious. You start losing, the next thing you know you lose your car, your house, you lose your family, your job. If you're winning, your daughter grows up to be a winner. I don't want my daughter to grow up as a loser, so I'm just trying to win as much as possible in life."
Bennett isn't harping too much on his performance a few nights ago, and now has his sights set on another tough matchup against an AFC East foe in the Miami Dolphins. Sporting a NASA hat while at his locker on Wednesday, Bennett said he's hard at work on this weekend's game plan in a way that only he could so eloquently put.
"I do like outer space a lot. After watching 'The Martian,' I'm just trying to science the [expletive] out of this game plan right now," said Bennett.
Sounds like he's a Matt Damon fan too, so it's easy to see why he's adapted so well to life in New England.