Marshall keeping faith in fitz
Brandon Marshall dug through his locker Wednesday afternoon before speaking to reporters and found the wardrobe choice that fit the occasion — a green “Fitzmagic” T-shirt.
“I’m expecting Fitzmagic 2.0, that’s what I’m expecting,” Marshall said. “We need it right now.”
Fitzpatrick was back with the starting offense Wednesday as the Jets began preparation for the Browns on Sunday. With Geno Smith out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee, Fitzpatrick was back in the saddle as the team’s starting quarterback a week after getting benched.
After throwing 11 interceptions in the first seven games, Fitzpatrick’s message Wednesday was that he knows he has to play better. He also stood by his statements after Sunday’s win over the Ravens when he said Jets owner Woody Johnson, general manager Mike Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles lost belief in him.
Fitzpatrick was asked if he regretted what he said.
“No, not at all. The underlying message there really is I believe in myself,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s kind of what I’d like to get across today. You don’t make it as long as I have in the league and playing on as many team as I have in the league, having to pick myself up over and over again without believing in yourself.”
No one in the Jets’ brass seems particularly bothered by Fitzpatrick’s comments, chalking them up to him being competitive. Fitzpatrick said he talked to Johnson and Maccagnan during practice Wednesday and the conversation was normal, centering around how the team was playing.
“The discussion has been we’re all here to do the same thing, which is to win football games,” Fitzpatrick said. “It doesn’t matter how it happens. [Bowles] always says it’s a show-me business, this business is based on production and you have to go out there and produce and that’s what I’m working at right now and that’s what I intend to do for the rest of the year.”
While Fitzpatrick vented about management not believing in him on Sunday, he acknowledged his play contributed to that on Wednesday.
“I was disappointed that I got benched, but I was disappointed in the way I played, too,” Fitzpatrick said. “There’s a lot of things I’m continuing to work on, but continuing to keep the faith in myself.”
The Jets are a disappointing 2-5 after entering the season with high hopes. Fitzpatrick has the most interceptions in the NFL and the lowest completion percentage in the league. Bowles turned to Smith last week in hopes of sparking the team. Instead, Smith injured his knee in the second quarter and it was Fitzpatrick coming off the bench and quarterbacking the Jets to a 24-16 win over the Ravens.
Fitzpatrick said he and Smith had a “good discussion” Wednesday.
“I feel awful for Geno,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s worked really hard. To see anybody go down with an injury is awful, but to have a season-ending one the first time he got his shot it was unfortunate. I feel for him.”
Fitzpatrick talked about playing “pissed off ” after the game, a remark that drew a great response from Bowles on Monday when he said he would be fine with Fitzpatrick being pissed off if it cut down on the turnovers. Fitzpatrick smiled when asked about Bowles’ quote Wednesday, but he knows he needs to cut down on the turnovers if the Jets have any hope of turning the season around.
“I’ve got to do a better job in a lot of different areas,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think the biggest thing is generating more points, getting off to better starts. When you start slow and fall behind, some of the turnovers and stuff follow that.”