Ryan Fitzpatrick – September 18, 2019
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Wednesday, September 18, 2019
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(How hard is it to try to put offensive drives together when the scoreboard isn’t in your favor during these games?) – “I think the first two (games) – when they get out of hand like that, you get out of your base offense. (You’re in) more of a 2-minute mode, trying to get some stuff downfield. I think both times in the second half of the first two games, it was a lot of that. We just have to be better early. We want to start fast, and it’s always a point of emphasis for teams; but that’s been a tough thing for us, especially the last game. Starting fast – which didn’t happen – and good, positive plays on first down, which didn’t really happen. Those are things that we’re focusing on and emphasizing.”
(So not only are you not able to execute the game plan, but you’re having to divert what you do offensively because of how the second half is unfolding. Is that what you’re saying?) – “You get into a different mode where you get away from the run game a little bit and you start throwing the ball a lot more trying to play catch up and come from behind. That’s a mode that you want to try to avoid and stay out of, which means you’ve just got to play better early on.”
(As the voice of experience on this team, what kind of sage advice can you give these younger players at this point in the season?) – “It’s only Week 3, right? So just come to work every single day, put your head down and just do your job. Focus on doing your job and do the best you can at what you’re doing, and if you do that and you get better, then collectively the team is going to get better. That’s our message right now, focusing on us and trying to do a better job individually, which collectively will bring everybody up.”
(Is there a different mental or emotional impact on you when these big losses happen the way they do?) – “I think sometimes they are harder to put behind you. A lot of times with a loss – whether it’s a 1-point loss or what we’ve seen the last few weeks – you’re always kind of down for a little bit. To have two in a row, maybe it lingers a little bit longer but by Wednesday, you’ve got to put all your focus and energy into the next team and the next game. I would say that may be one of the differences.”
(How have you found ways to compartmentalize some of these current struggles?) – “That’s it. You have to – that word – you just have to compartmentalize everything that you’re doing and put it behind you and put all your focus into this week. That’s it. It’s a difficult thing to do sometimes, but as a football player and really as a quarterback, that’s how you do it. You block out the noise. It’s the other way, too. When you’re winning and everybody’s happy and you’re doing so great, you still have to put that on the back burner and really focus on what you’re doing because every week presents different challenges.”
(Was there a part of you that was wondering if you’d start this week after how the first two weeks have gone?) – “I’ve seen it every way – I truly have – between a lot of different instances. Starting because of suspension, starting because of a guy breaking his jaw, not being in, then being in, not being in and having somebody tear his ACL and being in – there’s a million different things and ways that it’s happened in my career. For me, always being ready and knowing that when I have my opportunity, I’ve got to go out there and do my best. My whole career has been like that, and I’ve just tried to do my best and putting my focus into what I can control. The first two games – obviously, there’s a lot of things that I need to do better in order for us to perform better, and that’s what my focus is on right now.”
(Have you ever had to share the job where you’re playing and the other guy’s playing and you’re playing and the other guy’s playing?) – “There’s never the two-man – like you would see in college, like the platoon – you don’t really see that in the NFL, so that’s not really something that happens. You’re-in-or-you’re-out-type deal.”
(Do you find it more beneficial in general when a teammate or teammates is having problems with drops to just not talk about it because it’s such a mental thing or to actually openly discuss it?) – “I think it’s unique and different for every guy, but it’s not – there are certain things. There’s the elephant in the room. There are certain things, whether it’s the Minkah (Fitzpatrick) trade or Laremy (Tunsil) or Kenny (Stills) or dropping the ball or throwing an interception that some people treat them as taboo, but it’s really – you just have to be open about it and put everything out there. (You) know that guys are going to make mistakes but maybe getting to the root of why it’s happening. That’s not just for drops. That’s for bad decisions, bad throws, all that stuff; but I think as a whole, just overcommunicating on all that and getting it out there is an important thing.”
(You mentioned the “elephant in the room” topics. Do you guys as a team kind of discuss those topics maybe as we do? Like do you mention the trades or different big things that happened about the team?) – “A lot of this stuff, it’s got to be talked about and put out there, and then you move on. That’s kind of the way that it’s been handled.”
(Has it been discussed that this roster doesn’t seem like it has the talent right now to compete? Is that something that was brought up among you guys?) – “No, I mean guys – with transactions happening, that’s brought up (like) whether guys are here or not here or who’s getting brought in, who’s not. That stuff is just open and honest and gets discussed right away, and then you move on and again, just bury your head in the game plan and what you can do every day to improve.”
(Having said that, how hopeful are you that the dust has kind of settled – at least with major moves at the top of the roster?) – “In the NFL, you never know. Especially as the season goes on with injuries and different things as well, it’s just part of it. There’s always a revolving door of players coming in and out. You’ve got to do your best to control what you can control.”
(How do you feel about the overall talent level of the first four opponents on the Dolphins’ schedule?) – “(They’re) really, really good teams obviously. The thing is, it’s the NFL. There’s talent everywhere. Obviously especially the first three weeks in what I’ve seen and now what I’ve looked at for this week with Dallas, they are very talented teams. Dallas has a great defense. The things that they’ve done, they’re playing very well offensively right now; but what we’ve looked at, they do a great job on defense and rallying to the ball and making plays. The speed of their defense – all that kind of shows up on tape. Physicality.”
(There was a story they brought up during the broadcast that you were getting texts during the week that people thought you might be asking for a trade because of the name “Fitzpatrick?”) – “Yeah, I think something flashed on ESPN, and I got a couple ‘what the –‘ you know, ‘what’s going on?’ (laughter) It was Minkah. (laughter) You know, that kind of deal.”
(This might be a good time to revisit the trademark thing?) – (laughter) “None of that was my idea. That wasn’t me.”
