Fitzpatrick Grateful for Chance to Start and for Support
Veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick addressed the media Tuesday for the first time since he briefly left the team after the passing of his mother, and expressed his gratitude for the support he's received from coaches and teammates, old and current.
Fitzpatrick also talked about the excitement of beginning his 16th NFL season as the starter for the Miami Dolphins.
“It means a ton," Fitzpatrick said. "I mean, it’s not something I take for granted. I’ve gone back and forth, and been the guy and not been the guy. And so I know how difficult it is to earn something like this. I know how difficult it is to accept this responsibility to go out there and shoulder everything I have to shoulder as the starting quarterback to get these guys ready to go play. But it’s the reason I still play. It’s why I love the game so much. I’m honored and I’m really excited to be able to lead this team out there on Sunday.”
Fitzpatrick understands everything that comes with playing quarterback in the NFL, and his personality makes him well suited for the leadership aspect of the position.
This is a player who has earned the respect of his teammates, which was obvious when he left Hard Rock Stadium between warmups and the team's scrimmage two Saturdays ago with head coach Brian Flores offering support with his arm around Fitzpatrick's shoulder.
“I think, just being a head coach and a leader of this team, he’s meant a lot to me and to all of us," Fitzpatrick said of Flores, whose mother died of cancer in 2019. "The situation that I’m currently in or was going through and him going through something very similar within the past year or two, just being able to sit and have somebody to talk to about it is great. I feel like Coach Flores has really grown, just as this team has really grown over the last year. Hopefully, that continues and hopefully we start to see some results on the field.”
Fitzpatrick is heading into his second season with the Dolphins after earning team MVP honors in 2019.
It will be his eighth opening-day start. He started in Week 1 for Buffalo in 2011 and 2012, for Houston in 2014, for the Jets in 2015 and 2016, and for Tampa Bay in 2018.
Fitzpatrick is 4-3 in opening-day starts with a very impressive 17 touchdown passes against only six interceptions. In fact, the Dolphins' forgettable 59-10 loss against Baltimore in Week 1 last year marked the first time in an opening-day start that Fitzpatrick didn't have more touchdowns than interceptions (he had one of each).
Of course, his opening-day stats are helped by two monster performances, in 2011 when he was 17-of-28 for 208 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions and in 2018 when he filled in for suspended starter Jamie Winston and lit up the New Orleans Saints for 21 completions in 28 attempts for 417 yards with four touchdowns and no picks in Tampa Bay's stunning 48-40 victory.
Fitzpatrick passes for 320 yards against New England at Gillette Stadium in the 2019 season finale to help the Dolphins pull out a 27-24 victory.
