Former Jets Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick Focused On Winning, Not Emotion In Return To MetLife Stadium

Sunday features the return of Ryan Fitzpatrick, the former New York Jets quarterback who is now leading the Miami Dolphins. It will be an emotional time, Fitzpatrick admits, but he would like nothing better than to get a win against his old team.

Fitzpatrick led the Jets to their best record since 2010 (which coincidentally has been their only winning record since that season). As the Jets starting quarterback, he originally took over when quarterback Geno Smith was punched by a teammate in a locker room altercation, sidelining him for several weeks with the injury.

It turned out to be quite the silver lining for the Jets as Fitzpatrick took the job and never looked back. He led the Jets to a 10-6 record and within a game of making the playoffs.

His 3,905 passing yards that season are second-most in franchise history. The 31 touchdown passes set a Jets single-season record. His next year in New York was not nearly as successful and he was cut following the 2016 season.

And here Fitzpatrick is, coming into MetLife Stadium to face his old team.

“I’ve got great memories there; a lot of great friends, so I’m looking forward to that a little bit and just maybe being able to catch up with some people,” Fitzpatrick told the Dolphins beat reporters on Wednesday.

“I saw some of them on staff or on the team, but even just old neighbors and things. Just people that made it such a special place for our family for a couple years. There’s a lot of good people there.”

The Dolphins started the season 0-7 but have now won three of their last five games. Their first win of the season came in Week 9, a 26-18 win over the Jets.

Their latest win came on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Miami now holds a 3-9 record.

Dolphins Live: Ryan Fitzpatrick meets with the media https://t.co/bVCPRFVsZL
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) December 4, 2019

Historically, the Dolphins-Jets rivalry has produced some good if not downright memorable games. Miami beating New York earlier this year for their first win of 2019 adds something to this game.

The 4-8 Jets, coming off a tough loss this past Sunday at the Cincinnati Bengals, won’t want to lose to the Dolphins twice this year.

On the flip side, Miami would like to close the season on a high note and adding a couple more wins is more important than any rivalry implications at this juncture.

“I think – and I can just I guess speak for us as a team – we’re really trying to find ourselves and improve, and we’ve only won three games this year; so there’s a lot of things internally that we’re just trying to focus on and fix and get better at,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Some of those questions and then historically and in the past, some things that have happened, that is not really our focus right