Veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick endured a season that would make most want to quit football. Fitzpatrick considered doing just that, before deciding to return.
“I’m working out, excited for my next opportunity,” Fitzpatrick told Gary Myers of the New York Daily News. “Once the draft happens, the picture will become much clearer.”
Or maybe not. There’s a huge difference between rolling the dice on a rookie and adding a thirtysomething veteran who at this point would enter a locker room as an extra arm for offseason workouts and, possibly, the start-of-season No. 2.
Still, Fitzpatrick has decided to give it another try after a trying 2016 season.
“Last year was the hardest year I’ve had,” Fitzpatrick told Myers. “Last year was the most difficult year for me. Not physically, just kind of mentally and emotionally. I had to take a step back and think about it. Is this something I still want to do? Football is something so ingrained in me, something I love doing and definitely something I want to do. I still want to compete and I still think I can contribute whether I am in a starting role or whatever capacity.”
He arrived with the Jets two years ago as the backup to Geno Smith. One broken jaw later, Fitzpatrick had one of the finest years of his career. In 2016, a contract impasse kept him away until the start of training camp, and the magic from the prior year was long gone.