Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett says he was inspired by 'Luke Cage' to play through an ankle injury
New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett played a big part in Tom Brady's Week 5 return, catching six passes for 67 yards and three touchdowns.
However, Bennett's day was in question when he momentarily left the game with an ankle injury in the first half.
Luckily for the Patriots, Bennett was able to return and played well, hauling in two more touchdowns after returning to help the Patriots beat the Cleveland Browns 33-13.
After the game, Bennett was asked about playing through the injury and said he was motivated to play for his teammates and was inspired by the Netflix series "Luke Cage."
From Bennett (via Boston Herald's Jeff Howe):
"S--- hurts. You lay down for a second. You feel sorry for yourself then you think of all the people who are counting on you on and off the field, and you just find a way to suck it up and go out there and play for those guys. That's what it's really about. I didn't want to let my teammates down. A lot of stuff we worked on in practice counted on both of us being out there, so I had to figure out a way to go back out there and play with my teammates.
"They asked me if I needed a cart, and I'm like, 'S---, I'm going to look so weak.' I've been watching 'Luke Cage.' He's the bulletproof brother from Marvel, and I'm like, 'What would Luke Cage do right now?' He'd get up and keep bouncing around, so I was like, 'I've got to get up and show them, get a moment, just run off the field and let them know I'm coming in the game.'"
Bennett appeared to be referring to running two tight-end sets alongside Rob Gronkowski, who entered Week 5 of the season as healthy as he's been all year. Gronkowski also had a big game, catching five passes for 109 yards.
Luckily for the Patriots, their tight ends were able to overwhelm the Browns, in part because of the inspiration of "Luke Cage."