Jets coach Todd Bowles isn’t answering questions about who will start at quarterback for the Jets in Week Eight, but Ryan Fitzpatrick was willing to offer his two cents after replacing an injured Geno Smith in Sunday’s 24-16 win over the Ravens.
Fitzpatrick was 9-of-14 for 120 yards and a touchdown after entering the game in the second quarter and he avoided the interceptions that were a major issue while he was guiding the team to a 1-5 record in the first six weeks of the year. Fitzpatrick picked himself as the right choice to face the Browns next weekend.
“I think I should start every week,” Fitzpatrick said, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
Fitzpatrick said he felt he played better this week because he was “an underdog pissed off” and said that he felt the decision to bench him this week showed that the team’s coaches, ownership and front office stopped believing in him.
“When the owner stops believing in you and the G.M. stops believing in you and coaches stop believing in you, sometimes all you have is yourself,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick wouldn’t be an NFL quarterback without confidence in himself or his abilities, but the team’s decision to go another direction this week hardly came out of left field. Fitzpatrick had played well in one of the first six games before the team turned to Smith, which provided plenty of reason for the team to wonder if he was the right man for the job.
His relief performance may have changed their minds, although any decision about what to do next week may be made easier for the team based on what turns up during tests on Smith’s knee.