Ryan Fitzpatrick – October 21, 2020
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Wednesday, October 21, 2020
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(Obviously the news of the QB change – what was your first reaction when you heard and what do you think that means for you going forward?) – “I was shocked by it. It definitely caught me off guard and it was a hard thing for me to hear yesterday. Just kind of digesting the news, my heart just hurt all day. It was heartbreaking for me. ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) kind of said what he said and said what he said to you guys as well, and that’s the decision and the direction that the organization is going in, and obviously we’ve talked in the past – me and you guys – about how I’m the placeholder and this eventually was going to happen no matter – it was just a matter of kind of when, not if. It still just broke my heart yesterday and it’s a tough thing for me to hear and to now have to deal with, but I’m going to do my best with it.”
(I have a two-part question and I appreciate your candor. One, did you find out from the team or did you find out from news reports and two, do you feel like you did enough to keep the job?) – “I found out – ‘Flo’ called me to his office and we talked. He’s – with everything last year and this year – everything, he’s real up front and honest and likes to have those face-to-face conversations, so I definitely appreciate that. I think that the second question is irrelevant – not that it’s a bad question to ask; but that’s the decision that was made, so there’s not a whole lot I could do about it other than just move forward and kind of accept my new role and try to embrace that, and do the best I can to help the team win in that role.”
(I think the timing definitely shocked us as well, with you guys being second place in the AFC East and 3-3 kind of looking towards the playoffs. I guess how do you kind of move forward knowing that maybe you were pulled a little bit too early or maybe pulled when you weren’t expected?) – “There’s a lot of stuff going through my mind yesterday, just from a personal standpoint, not necessarily with the team; but is this it? Was that my last game as an NFL player in terms of being the starter and going out there and playing? And you just kind of go through all those different scenarios. I’ve been a starter. I’ve been benched all kinds of different ways, but this one – this one just really more so than any of them – I think this organization and what we’ve been through the last year and a half, this was kind of the first place, other than Buffalo, where I just felt fully committed and invested and felt like it was my team. And so to have that, I think that’s a lot of the reason why my heart was so heavy yesterday. That’s a direction that the organization is going and I’ve just got to accept it.”
(This is kind of a hard question, but out of my respect for you and the way you have addressed QB Tua Tagovailoa, I would ask you if you have had a chance to talk to Tua and how that may have gone so far?) – “Yeah, we’ve talked. This profession is interesting in that I basically got fired yesterday and then my day of work today consisted of me in Zoom meetings listening to the guy that fired me, and then locked in a spaced out room with my replacement for four hours today. There aren’t a whole lot of jobs that are like that, but I know how difficult it is to play the quarterback position and I know that that room is so important to the guy that’s playing in terms of everybody having your back and pulling in the same direction. So today is a day to digest a little bit and we’ll get away for the bye a little bit; but once this thing starts up again, I’ve got to do my best for Tua to help him out, because there’s two separate situations here. One is with Tua, and I want him to do well and I think he’s a great kid, and I think he has a really bright future. The other one is my feelings and just kind of what I’m going through, and that has to be separate from when I walk into this building and help him out. I’ve got to separate those feelings from trying to be a professional and help him out as best I can.”
(I appreciate you just kind of sharing this emotion. I know it’s probably not easy to kind of talk through this. You mentioned just the thought of “was this my last game?” I just kind of wanted to get the gauge of how that conversation has been like with you and your family about just obviously you put so much emotion and energy into this. Have you guys started to have that conversation and think about what that all means?) – “No. I mean those are just things running through my head, but you just never know in this league. To me, those conversations at this point aren’t really worth having. There will be a time and a place for that; but they’ve always been obviously very supportive of me and they are in this journey together with me, so it’s nice to have that kind of support. It’s hard this day and age. My two boys in middle school – they don’t get to find out from Dad. They get to find out through a friend that got a text message. So that part of it is just the world we live in now. They probably dropped me from their fantasy teams. (laughter) But other than that they still love me.”
(A, did the idea of asking for a trade go through your mind and B, could the idea of being a long-term backup to QB Tua Tagovailoa including next year, even though you don’t have a contract for next year, could that idea grow on you and ultimately be appealing?) – “I have no idea. No, I don’t go in there and demand or ask for anything. And in terms of the other stuff, the long-term future, I have no idea. I know that I just love playing this game. I love being out there and the camaraderie that that brings and dealing with the adversity with your teammates; those are the kind of things that I truly love about this game, so I definitely like playing more than I like sitting and watching.”
(Obviously you’re still going to get ready to play. There’s always the chance that you could have to go in – injury, any reason. How was it explained to you relative to the permanence of this decision?) – “We didn’t really get into that, but last year when Josh (Rosen) went in, I feel like that was a different situation. He was either going to sink or swim, and I ended up back in the lineup and this is a different situation. If you draft a guy fifth overall and put him in, this isn’t a temporary – this is a forever decision. This is a long-term decision. I think those two situations are very different. I’m always ready to go and I could probably come out of the stands and play in five years if I needed to without picking up a football; but that’s just again, accepting the role that I’ve now been given and trying to do the best I can in that role.”
