Ryan Fitzpatrick – December 26, 2019
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Thursday, December 26, 2019
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(Your memories of playing in Foxborough and aside from the quality of the opponent, why is that such a tough place to play?) – “I think that’s a lot of it. Obviously it’s a very good team. It’s a good atmosphere. They really know and love their football up there. It’s a place where you’re going to have to be at your very best. You’re going to have to deal with all of the elements of playing on the road. There is going to be plenty of adversity. A lot of noise. They’re going to have something for us that maybe we didn’t expect and force us to communicate. One thing about it a New England-led defense is they’re going to make you – they’re going to force you – to make plays. They’re going to make you earn it on every single play. I’ve played a lot against them but this is a new year and even just looking back to the first game, it seems like a new season – a new team – for us and what we’re doing and how far we’ve come. For us, just like the last few weeks, a lot of the focus will be on us and continuing to get better and to end the season on a high note. I know there’s a lot of stuff at stake for them and maybe not so much for us, but I promise we’ll give everything we have and we’re going up there to try to win the game.”
(With the way this season has gone for you, has it changed or reinforced the way you think of yourself as a quarterback?) – “No, it hasn’t changed at all. I am who I am at this point and I try to be very transparent, try to be a competitor and try to do what’s best for the team. That’s something I’ve tried to do all year long. Whether the results have been great or not so great, I make sure that when I go into every game and coming out of every game, I know that I gave everything I had to try to put the team in a position to win.”
(You’ve explained to us the things that you were looking for in coming here and the reasons you came here. Looking at those things now, has this experience met or exceeded your expectations, would you say?) – “Well, if you would have asked me that Week 3, 4 or 5, I might have given you a different answer. Look, I’ve been proud of the way that guys have responded and hung in there and I’ve really been proud of the way the guys have played. We really have come together at the end of the year here against a lot of tough situations and tough scenarios. We’ve played much better football. It’s all come from the meeting rooms and practice from guys just having the want-to to go out there and play high-level football. We’ve continued to get better and we’ve continued to strive for that goal and this week will be no different.”
(How much better is this team than when you faced New England in what seems like a year ago?) – “Us? Again, we’ve just made a conscious effort to not necessarily put a ton of emphasis or focus on the opponent but to put it on us and continue to grow and continue to get better. I think the last half of the season, we’ve done that. But that being said, it could all be for naught if we show up and lay an egg. We’ve got to continue to try to stay on that trend of playing better each week.”
(There was a report going back to that Week 3, 4, 5 range that you were referring to – there was a report that suggested that retiring may have crossed your mind at that point. Is there anything to that?) – “Like midseason retirement? No, definitely not. Those were tough times for me in the sense that the first few games, I didn’t put this team in a position to win and I didn’t play well enough. It’s hard to sit and question that decision. That being said, I love being out there and playing and I want to be part of the solution. That’s why that was hard for me. Trying to be part of the solution every day – whether it was trying to help Josh (Rosen) or being back out there and trying to bring guys along – that’s the part of the game that I really enjoy and what I’ve tried to do as I’ve been back in the lineup.”
(Let me ask you a different way. Is there a moment or two, or a story from the season, that really kind of sticks out in your mind and kind of encapsulates the kind of year you’ve had and interaction you may have had with a teammate or a moment in a game we may have missed? Is there anything that you’ll look back on pretty fondly?) – “No. I mean I think just looking at it now and the guys that were here in the offseason, the guys that were here during training camp – the Dan Kilgores and the Jesse (Davis’) and the DeVante (Parker’s) and everything Albert (Wilson) has worked through – all of those guys that have been through this rollercoaster of a season together, we’ve kind of all done it together and I think we’re coming out of it better football players and stronger. That’s something that I’ll look to and remember about this season is just the progress. Through it all, those guys continue to keep their focus and continue to try to get better every day. It was difficult conditions and situations but we kind of all did it together and leaned on each other.”
(Has there ever been anything like this throughout your career in 15 years like this season?) – “They’re all unique and different in their own special way, but this one definitely has its own little file in the file cabinet.”
(I know you’ll probably spend some time this offseason deciding what you want to do in the future but I wanted to ask how much will what the Dolphins do with their quarterback plans impact how you’ll make your decision?) – “Not really at all. I think part of it for me is just sitting down with my family and that’s something I owe to them and to my wife, and figuring things out on that end of it. My wife has always been very supportive in whatever I want to do and physically, it’s not an issue. Physically I feel great. There’s always different things that go into it and you’re always drained at the end of the season emotionally. So there is a lot of stuff that goes into it but I still love playing, so it’s going to be hard to – it’s going to be hard to – I don’t know that it will be a difficult decision. I just think that I’ll go through the due process and figure things out.”
(You had mentioned when we talked before the season about the desire to have your kids in the same school for two years in a row. Obviously you’ve had the back and forth with Tampa with your family coming down and you going up. Has that burden been what you expected? Bigger? Worse? Where does it stand?) – “Well, I knew it would be difficult. The difficult part isn’t hopping on an airplane or hopping in my car and driving there and back. That part of it is not difficult. It’s the dance recital, it’s the soccer game, it’s being able to be present for the student of the month award or to be able to go have dinner at Chick-fil-A and watch the guy make balloon animals. It’s all of that stuff that is silly and little and maybe in the grand scheme of things it is consequential; but those are the things that you miss out on that makes each year – as they get older – harder and harder to miss. That’s definitely part of it for me but in terms of going back and forth and all of that, that part of it isn’t a big deal. I think I was able to – while I was here during the week – maybe even put more time and focus and energy into the game plan and into playing and I think that might have been a positive that came out of it. But the difficulties of not having them here definitely outweigh the positives.”
(We have not yet asked you about being named Team MVP.) – “I just heard. I think – I’m humbled by it. It’s awesome. I think again, it’s something that we’ve worked through a lot of adversity this year and to be a guy regarded as that by whoever it was that voted for it, I’m proud. I’m proud to receive the award and to be named that; but overall, I’m happy to be one of those guys that stuck with it throughout the whole year and continued on a positive trend and continued to keep guys going a little bit.”
(How much do you respect the attitude that WR Albert Wilson has had all season long, what he’s gone through and I’m sure you’re happy to see some success lately from him, right?) – “Yeah. His attitude is unbelievable. I don’t know that I’ve played with many guys that – I mean he is truly happy when somebody else makes a play. He really is. He’s always rooting for – whether a ball comes his way and he makes a play or it’s to DeVante (Parker) or Isaiah (Ford) or Allen (Hurns) or Mike (Gesicki) or whoever it is, he’s truly happy that the team is moving the ball and those guys are making plays. That’s something that even though it’s sad to say you don’t see a lot of – you see less and less of it – it truly is a genuine happiness that he has. He’s just put his head down. He’s had to deal with a lot of adversity and things out of his control in terms of some of the injuries and whatever else. He’s worked really hard and is coming on as of late at the end of the season. Really, the run-after-the-catch ability and all of that, he’s really shown it the last few games.”
(Do you think you’re somebody who would be good at retirement? Will you fill the hours that there will be to fill? I suppose with seven kids…) – “I think retirement is going to be a lot more difficult than playing football. (laughter) I can’t pass off some of those duties that maybe I would.”
(So that might keep you coming back for more?) – “(laughter) Yeah.”
(Earlier you said that this team will continue to put the focus on yourselves instead of the opponent. What did you mean by that? Can you expand a little bit?) – “I just think the process that we’ve gone through this season – obviously we’re game-planning for opponents and we’re looking at who they have and what they do; but the focus truly has been on us and getting us better, because especially as you sit during the season and you’re 0-7 and maybe the playoffs are no longer in sight, what are you playing for? A lot of it is love for the game. A lot of it is for your teammates. Just the goal for us is how do we continue to get better every week? That’s what I mean by that. We’ve really put an emphasis and focus on us and doing things the right way. It’s been nice to see some results as we’ve done that.”
(What will be the most important thing for you when you decide on 2020? What will be the one thing that you need to have happen for you?) – “That’s hard to say. I think there’s a lot of different factors that go into it.”
(How much of a factor is the direction that things seem to be headed here and the opportunity to be part of that or to step away at a time when – it could get really interesting next year?) – “Not really. Just like you guys asked me when I made the decision to come here and the direction of the team, I saw it as a place where there was a job opening and I like being out there and playing. I don’t try to overthink things. I try to keep them pretty simple.”
