Ryan Fitzpatrick – November 22, 2020 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 22, 2020
Postgame – Denver
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(When you got the word, I saw you on the sideline obviously warming up and speaking with TE Mike Gesicki, to WR DeVante Parker. Just what were those conversations like and what was going through your head before you came in there at the end?) – “’Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) – we all came up and just said we needed a little bit of a spark and we’re going to kind of do the up-tempo deal. He said I was going in so I talked to those guys and just let them know that A., I was in there; B., some of the stuff that potentially we could do. But just trying to get a little bit of juice going with those guys and unfortunately we came up short there, but again, that was a tough game that their defense played really well and I wish I would have hit that last throw.”
(Moving forward do you see yourself kind of trying to compete for that playing time? Even a starting job here or do you still see yourself being a mentor to QB Tua Tagovailoa and maybe just being the backup?) – “It’s very clear that this is Tua’s team and Tua’s going to continue to get better and grow. So for me, my defined role right now is whatever ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) and whatever the team needs out of me, and today was different than the last few weeks in that he needed me to go out there and try to move the ball and provide a spark. But the few weeks before that it really was just full support mode on Tua and even in a game like today when I’m out there, I’m still talking with Tua on the sideline and we’re going through stuff and just trying to get him to see what I’m seeing and why I’m doing the things I’m doing. This is such a tough position to play and you’re just going to continue to learn and it’s going to be a bumpy road, but you just hope that the things that you learn, you put them in the back and you make a catalog in the back of your head and you continue to get better.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa talked about how appreciative he is, the fact that you continue to give in all situations and circumstances. Today was obviously very difficult for him with six sacks and not a lot of passing yards. I know you’re not a coach, but you are a pseudo-coach. What advice or what is something you noticed that might be helpful for him to hear right now?) – “Those are discussions I had with him on the sideline and stuff that we’ll continue to have as we watch the film, but without getting into too many specifics, it’s what I just said. It’s creating a catalog; even in the games that you win, things aren’t going to go right all the time, so what happened in this game, what could I have done differently. They seemed like they were getting some pressure up front, so what are some things that I can do as a quarterback to combat that? And you just keep putting these things in the back of your mind and as we go forward he’ll be able to lean on and continue to use some of those; and for me, I think my role here – I learned those things in 16 years – but is to accelerate the things that he’s going to learn and make sure that he learns it faster than I did.”
(You almost gave us the perfect storybook ending there. What happened on the pick?) – “I put us in a bunch set and in situations like that you want to give your playmakers a chance to make plays and DeVante (Parker) was on a post and the nearside safety came down on (Adam) Shaheen just like I thought he would. The backside safety really plays my eyes. Jakeem (Grant) was on the backside, so if I’m looking at Jakeem and Jakeem’s got a route that’s of interest to that backside safety, he’s going to stay put. Unfortunately I did not look him off and look him off as much as I needed to because that wasn’t how it was going to play out on the front side. But got everything I wanted with DeVante on the front side, and I needed to do a better job of holding that safety and really, that’s the game of football. It was milliseconds. If he would’ve been a step slower, maybe that ball gets in there and we’re having a happy press conference; but those are the type of things – even when I’m out there – things that Tua can continue to learn from. But I wish I could’ve had that one second to look off. I wish I would’ve done that better on the last play.”
(I wanted to ask you have you said anything or do you plan to say anything to QB Tua Tagovailoa about maybe how he should handle the benching and how to go forward from this moment?) – “Yeah, we talked about it on the sideline. We talked about it in the locker room. I think it’s probably a conversation that’s over with now. For him, he’s going to put his head down and keep working hard and keep trying to be a better quarterback, keep trying to get better every day; but we’ve got a great chance here and Tua has done a nice job, so it’s about putting it behind you and moving onto the next one. And I know that he’ll do a good job of that, so there’s no controversy. This is his team. He’s going to lead this team and continue to lead the team and we’ve just all kind of got to pull him in the right direction and get everybody continuing to get better.”
