During the offseason, Washington quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said that he tries to “ooze confidence” in hopes that it will trickle down to other members of the team.
Washington head coach Ron Rivera discussed how Fitzpatrick’s confidence manifests itself in practice. He was asked about Taylor Heinicke providing competition for Fitzpatrick and said that Fitzpatrick’s reaction to it can be used as a lesson for others on the team.
“He just goes out and does his job,” Rivera said at his Thursday press conference. “He doesn’t look over his shoulder. And I think that’s a confident player. I think guys can learn from that. Don’t worry about what’s going on over here, worry about yourself. We’re about doing your job. We’re about things that are going to help you. Again, in his mind what’s important versus what’s interesting and I love that about him. He’s a guy also that’s communicating, he’s helping, he’s working with everybody. That is cool and that’s the type of stuff that helps your football team.”
Rivera called Heinicke “a guy that’s going to create the competition that we’re looking” for in training camp and that the team will see how it all unfolds in the coming weeks. It would come as a great surprise if Fitzpatrick isn’t the No. 1 quarterback once everything plays out and his confidence in his ability is toward the top of the list of reasons why that’s the case.