Ryan Fitzpatrick – September 30, 2020
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Wednesday, September 30, 2020
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(The quarterback on the other team is MVP caliber, is leading the league in touchdowns and leading the league in passer rating. Does that affect your mindset at all? Does that affect what you feel you have to accomplish at all?) – “Yeah, I think it does, especially as you get into the second half of games. Every possession matters that much more. And when you have a lead, no lead is safe with a guy like this. They’ve had a really great start to the season. Obviously they’re putting up a ton of points. I think in a game like this, it does matter. In that second half, your mindset can’t be if you have a lead, okay we’re going to sit on this thing and just hope that things work out. You’ve got to keep going the whole game and every possession, you’ve got to make it count. It’s not one of those games where you’re going to be sitting there watching the clock in the fourth quarter.”
(We talked to Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey the other day and one of the funniest things he said in our conversation was that the offense realized on Thursday that it wasn’t against the rules to go out and begin the game with two straight scoring drives. What kind of confidence do you think last week gave to the rest of your offensive teammates that you’re capable of starting this thing off pretty hot?) – “I think the last few weeks, we’re just in a little bit better rhythm. That has to continue this week. You want to see it happen for the rest of the season but this week is definitely very important for us, not just to get to a fast start but to put together a full game. Last week we had a good first half, didn’t capitalize at the end of the 2-minute drill and then a slow second half. That’s something we won’t be able to get away with this week. We’ve got to put together a solid offensive game for all four quarters and that will be an emphasis for us this week.”
(I want to talk about your offensive line real quick. According to one website, you’ve been under pressure on 30 of 111 drop-backs this year, and 19 quarterbacks in the NFL have been under pressure more often. Last year, you were under pressure 230 times out of 580 drop-backs. That was the sixth-most in the NFL with 13 starts compared to 16 starts for some other guys. So my question is about the offensive line and with 80 percent turnover on the line from a year ago, from your perspective, how have they been able to jell and perform so well so quickly?) – “Well, I think Ted (Karras) gets a lot of the credit there. He’s the leader for those guys up front and has done a really nice job. I think just the talent that we brought in in the offseason, those guys have come in and meshed really well. It’s early too. They’ve got a lot of work to do and communication-wise, we have to continue to get better, whether that’s me and Ted or Ted with the rest of the guys. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it’s been a good start. It’s been a solid start for those guys and I’m proud of how quickly they’ve been able to come together. But as we know in this league, as soon as you show something that there may be a crack or there maybe something that guys can take advantage of, they’re going to. So they’ve got to come out and perform every week. We’ve just got to continue to get better and not be happy about the first three games.”
(Those shoulder pads look like you stole them from one of your linemen.) – “(laughter) They look like those shoulder pads – I don’t what this extra thing is – but those shoulder pads like my mom used to wear back in the 80s.”
(I wanted to ask you last week, two games in four days. You went from the Buffalo game with three touchdown drives that could have been four, and three straight drives to score in Jacksonville. Is that a hot week? Do you think you guys can sustain that coming up this week?) – “I do. I think we have a lot of confidence right now. I think the guys that I’m throwing the ball to are doing a really nice job and we’re getting better there. We’re getting a lot of different guys involved, which I think is really helpful. Myles (Gaskin) has really stepped it up these last few weeks. There’s a lot of stuff that we’re kind of jelling and figuring out who we are. I think as we do that and as we continue to spread the ball out a little bit, hopefully the success continues.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Russell Wilson and what you expect most in him. Can you believe he’s never received an MVP vote?) – “I think the biggest thing about him is he’s consistently won every single year. He finds different ways to do it. But the last few have especially been very impressive. I think when he first got there, it was all about the Legion of Boom and Beast Mode and all of that, and he’s really embraced the culture and the competitiveness and the things that their coach preaches. He’s had an incredible career so far and he just gets better every year. I think he has an amazing record as a winner in the National Football League, which is most important, and just continues to get better every year. Whether it’s understanding the game or physically somehow, he finds a way to do it. It’s been really impressive to see the start of the season for him.”
(The team is among the best in the league in fewest penalties, and that’s been the case since Head Coach Brian Flores took over the program. What are some of the things that you’ve noticed that are contributing to that – including offensive line penalties and whatnot?) – “I think part of that is focus on fundamentals and the things that we do in practice to sort of eliminate some of those bad habits. I also just think that in terms of a clean operation and avoiding a lot of those pre-snap penalties, that’s been a big thing too. Whether it’s the false starts or the delay of games on offense – the illegal formations – that kind of stuff, those are all things that you can avoid. We’ll have penalties that pop up throughout a game just like anybody will, but preaching fundamentals and then just preaching those small things, the penalties that we can avoid, and making sure that we all understand that those aren’t acceptable. Those have been two things that have really helped us out in that area.”
