Ryan Fitzpatrick – July 30, 2019
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Tuesday, July 30, 2019
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(Head Coach Brian Flores came out today and pretty much said you’ve asserted yourself so far in the quarterback competition as the lead guy. What are your thoughts on that?) – “I’ve just got to continue to put the work in, work even harder in terms of gaining the respect of the guys, gaining the confidence and the trust of the guys on the field and the coaching staff. I have been through a lot in my career to know that it all depends on what you do every single day. You can’t harp on what happened in the past or what you did the last game. Nothing is given in this game. For me, I never take any of these opportunities for granted.”
(With that experience, Head Coach Brian Flores said you’ve built quite a rapport with this team. How strong would you say the rapport is considering the stops you made along the way? Would you say it’s on a normal pace you’ve seen over the years?) – “I love playing this game. I love playing football and a lot of it is the relationships you build – sitting in the lunch room, goofing around with the guys in the locker room, out here going after that common goal and putting in the sweat and working together. That’s a lot of why I love this game. I have so many great memories. Forget the ups and downs in my career and all of the different stops, I absolutely have enjoyed stopping everywhere, meeting all the people I’ve met and playing with all the people I’ve met. I hope when I’m done playing that they all have good things to say about me in terms of how prepared I am, in terms of my competitiveness, in terms of wanting to go to battle with me. Those are things I really put a lot of weight into.”
(This is your 15th training camp now, is that right?) – “Yeah.”
(How would you compare how you’re throwing the ball now than years past?) – “The last five or six years, I’ve gotten better every year. I think right now, I’m seeing it better. I’m throwing it better. I’m understanding stuff a lot better than I ever have. That’s what makes it an exciting opportunity.”
(Are you peaking in your mid-30s?) – “There are so many things with me that I don’t think anyone is ever going to put on tape and say, ‘We want your form to look like this guy.’ That’s not really who I am. But I really have honed in things that make me more accurate and really worked on some stuff with myself in terms of I know myself well enough to know when it’s going to be a good throw or a bad throw and releases and when I let it go out of my hands. I feel more comfortable with myself and my game right now than I ever have.”
(Have you had any conversations with the coaches about managing your workload or having a pitch count of sorts in practice?) – “No. I hope that doesn’t come up. I feel really fresh. I love being out here every single day. I try not to say that too loud in front of the linemen at the lunch table, because I know I’m not the one banging heads and hitting every day and all that; but I love being out here. I love throwing the ball. My arm feels fresh and I can – if there is a problem that arises, we’ll talk about it; but I don’t foresee it happening, because I haven’t really had any arm issues my whole career.”
(Where do you view yourself in this competition as it stands right now? Head Coach Brian Flores said you’re clearly ahead at this point only five practices into camp.) – “From Day 1 when I got here, my goal was to help get this thing established, get the guys going, making sure I’m running the offense the way that it’s supposed to be run. There’s a lot that they put on the quarterback in terms of things that happen before the snap, during a play or even after. I’m just trying to execute to the best of my ability, be open and communicate with all of the guys. We’ve got a good group that’s willing to work.”
(What did you see from the offensive line today?) – “It’s always hard for me during practice, (because) there’s so much that goes on. Those guys are working extremely hard. Those are things (like) pushing at the end of practice there, doing an up-tempo when we’re a couple hours into practice and those guys sweat, get into their stance and firing off the ball. Those are things that are going to help us as the season gets going here.”
(When there is a coaching change that happens this early, how does that affect the locker room?) – “The NFL in general, you always – every year and the longer you’re in it – you know that everybody is replaceable. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter where you were in the past, what you’ve done in the past. There’s not really – it’s tough when we’re in it, because there’s not really a human element to it. It’s just next man up and you keep going, because we’ve got so much to do and we’ve got our focus forward, so it’s hard to pay any mind to it right now. We continue to grind and try to move in the right direction.”
(As it relates to validation and empowerment, with Head Coach Brian Flores’ statement today about you being the leader, how does that play into the concepts of validation of you as a player and empowerment lead the whole team?) – “I think as I’ve gotten older and as I’ve played on different teams and been in different systems and try to get with different groups of guys, I think I’ve become better at that. I think I’ve become more comfortable in that role. I try to do my best and be myself and hopefully guys decide they want to follow that. It’s something that’s worked well for me in the past.”
(What do you hope to accomplish this week before the scrimmage on Saturday?) – “We’re still in installation mode and doing different things. Each practice is a little bit different in terms of the focus and what we’re trying to do. We’ve had a bunch of red area days. We had some stuff in the field and play action. I know we’ll have some third-down stuff and some two-minute stuff coming up. It’s a lot of situations and making sure everybody’s on the same page and understanding. But I think every day no matter what we’re doing with all that is communication, making sure that everybody knows what I’m thinking, I’m making sure I know what (Offensive Coordinator) Chad (O’Shea) is thinking and making sure that we’re all communicating and going in the same place.”
