Ryan Fitzpatrick is having an awful year and was rightfully benched this week after leading the entire NFL with 11 interceptions. Geno Smith started today’s game versus the Ravens, but was replaced by Fitzpatrick after suffering a knee injury. Fitzpatrick led the Jets to a victory, so after the game Fitzpatrick openly complained to NY Daily News reporter Manish Mehta with this quote.
Fitzpatrick: "When owner stops believing in you & GM stops believing in u & coaches stop believing in u, sometimes all you have is yourself"
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) October 23, 2016
He was then asked about starting the next game and gave this response:
Fitzpatrick: "I don't know what decision they’re going to make or what Geno’s health is… but, yeah, I think I should start every week."
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) October 23, 2016
Going back to his initial complaints about the organization not believing him, I am not sure how any team leader could get away with saying this after throwing 11 interceptions. His performance on the field warranted the disbelief and his benching, so there is really no reason for going public with such rampant self-pity.
If Geno Smith made the same comments after such a poor stretch of play, he would be viewed as not a leader, a whiner, and someone who isn’t taking responsibility for their play on the field. Instead of pointing the finger at the organization for not believing in his play on the field, Fitzpatrick needs to turn his focus to correcting the mistakes that led to the lack of belief in the first place.