Fitzpatrick helps Gang Green leg out a victory
Once quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick gets on the field, he doesn’t think about the broken leg that ended his season last year, just the play to be made. He doesn’t fret about the rod and screws in his leg, but the game to be won. And his scrambling, headlong dive into the end zone was the enduring image of Sunday’s 3420 win.
In possibly his best game as a Jet, Fitzpatrick was 19 of 26 for 253 yards, two touchdowns and an interception to lead a comefrombehind win over Washington. But it wasn’t his arm but his legs that shocked the crowd, and the Redskins as well. He ran four times for 41 yards, including an 18yard goahead thirdquarter touchdown, the longest by a Jets quarterback since 1980.
“Every time he crosses the line of scrimmage I get worried. He’s a tough competitor and he has a feel for it,’’ said coach Todd Bowles. “Hopefully he can learn how to slide. We’ll send him to baseball school in the offseason.”
But, on Sunday it was Fitzpatrick who schooled Washington.
He saw running back Chris Ivory pick up a nickel blitz, ducked up the middle and got a block from tight end Kellen Davis. Eschewing a slide at the goal line despite Bowles’ fears, the fuzzybearded quarterback lunged headfirst and was barely missed by a diving Will Blackmon, giving the Jets a 2013 lead they never surrendered.
“[Bowles] asked me after the touchdown if we should put in the read option or start running the speed option. Of course I said no,’’ said Fitzpatrick, admitting “[sliding] is hard sometimes.
“I just had some space. I didn’t know where it was going to take me. Usually if I get to about 5 yards, somebody starts catching me, but I was able to sneak into the end zone.’’
Despite suffering a seasonending broken leg on a scramble last Dec. 14 for Houston, Fitzpatrick said he’s 100 percent healthy and doesn’t even consider the injury while he’s scrambling around.
“I feel great, ’’ said Fitzpatrick. “I’m completely healthy, completely over the mental part of it, thinking about it and all that. I don’t wake up with aches and pains in my leg, even though I’ve got a titanium rod and screws in there. I don’t feel them, so I think I’m completely healthy now, which has helped just in terms of getting out there and running.’’
Fitzpatrick also threw touchdown passes to Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, leading a surge of 24 unanswered points and improving to 41 as the Jets’ starter — a position he inherited after Geno Smith had his jaw broken.
“He’s deceivingly fast,’’ said Decker. “Yeah, I knew he could run. He’s an athlete. I think that’s something a lot of people don’t maybe see, because he’s got that big grizzly beard. But he can move when he has to, and you saw that on a couple big conversions and the touchdown.’’