New York Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick discusses offensive surge

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had quite the impressive performance for the New York Jets in their Week 1 victory over the Cleveland Browns. Despite his lone interception, Fitzpatrick totaled 179 passing yards on 15 completions and 2 touchdowns. He looked confident under center and showed his veteran experience to his team as he led them to a win against the Browns to start the season on the right foot.

Fitzpatrick had a lot to say about the offensive surge that Jets Nation cheered on throughout the game. Thanks to the Media Relations Department of the Jets, they sent us here at The Jet Press a complete transcript on what he thought about everything, how the offense came together and that weird interception he threw. Enjoy!

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On his level of satisfaction how the offense played today…

I thought it was a great win. To be able to rely on the run game in the second half, to kind of grind out the clock with our defense playing well and creating turnovers, I thought we did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and that’s going to be a big thing for us this year that we are going to rely heavily on. It’s nice to get a touchdown to (Eric) Decker, nice to get one to Brandon (Marshall). Brandon stepped up and made some big plays. Any win in this league is a good one. We’re thrilled about it and ready to move on to the next one.

On how big it was for Marshall to strip the defender of the ball after he was intercepted…

That was a huge play by Brandon. He killed his guy on the route, I saw a linebacker underneath, threw it over him, but there just so happened – for some reason – to be a safety underneath him as well, and what a great play by Brandon, I think that play in that nutshell kind of shows his competitiveness. I definitely owe him a soda pop for that one.

On the touchdown pass to Marshall…

We actually came out of the huddle and lined up, and the ref had kind of messed up in terms of the TV timeout, so we had to get back in the huddle. Brandon was on the sideline, told me he wanted the ball, and I said ‘Okay, let’s put Brandon in. If we get him the right look, we’ll get him the ball.’ It was just one-on-one out there. He had a big size advantage and he went up and got it. That makes my job easy, to have a player like that, as competitive as he is, to go and make that play.

On how he developed chemistry with Marshall so quickly…

He’s just played a lot of football. I think we understand each other. He understand a lot about this game and he understands a lot about the quarterback’s job and that’s very helpful for me, for a wide receiver to have that. We had a couple nice ones today where I had to trust what he was going to do, he did what I thought he was going to do and we had a couple nice hook ups. We’ll just continue to build on that throughout the year.

On how effective the hurry-up offense was going into the half…

It was a good two-minute drive for us. We didn’t really have many opportunities in preseason to do that, but to get out there and execute, communication was good and then to hit Decker at the end there, just a crafty route runner, I knew in calling that play he was going to find the opening and we were able to get it to him in the back of the end zone.

On if he had to trust Marshall on the back-shoulder throw to him on third down…

I think we’re talking about the same play. When I say I kind of had a naked, the (defensive) end read it and I had to just throw the ball. He was still looking at me down the field, I had to throw the ball, he turned around, toe tapped and got it. It just showed the special player that he is.

Sep 13, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall (15) is tackled by Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden (23) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

On if he felt back at home in Chan Gailey’s offense…

It was good. I thought we had good communication. He was upstairs and just the communication with Chan, Kevin (Patullo) and me, I thought that was smooth today. Being at home and being on the road are two different things, I did feel good with that today.

On if he was surprised how seamless the offense was…

No, part of it was the way the game went. We relied heavily on Chris (Ivory) and Bilal (Powell) at the end there. We had a nice two-minute drive, but we had some stuff we overcame as well, the interception being one, the snap being the other one. There was some adversity out there, some stuff we had to handle on the sideline and work through it, so I thought that was good.

On his early impressions of Head Coach Todd Bowles’ game day demeanor…

He’s a calming presence, he also has a lot of fire. You look at him on the sideline and kind of feel at ease. He’s very comfortable in who he is and in his role. We certainly all feed off of that.

On if he had to make sure everyone stayed focused when Antonio Cromartie was injured…

It’s tough to see anyone go down and it’s tough because he looked a little emotional. Sometimes, for us as an offense, we can’t think about any of that. Sometimes, you don’t realize guys go out, and that one I think everyone realized it. We certainly have to stick to what we are doing and put all of our focus into our plays.

On what his best pass of the night was…

I don’t know. I liked the connection to Decker in the back of the end zone. I was happy with that one.

On what he liked best about the way the whole offense flowed today…

I thought we mixed it up a good amount. I think what I liked best were the guys up front, just their physical presence, they were able to push the line of scrimmage, and just our backs and how physical they were.

On if he liked the Decker touchdown pass the best…

Yes, he asked me what pass I liked best.

Why that one…

I mean, there was a lot that went into it, but the situation, the two-minute drill, having to call that one at the line. Me knowing pre snap what Decker was going to do, with the look that we got, I just felt like there was a lot of things that came together on that one.

On if he felt comfortable going down the field…

When the defense is playing well and getting turnovers and we’re running the ball well – which is a great formula for success – a lot of times, you’re going to win games. Again, I was happy with the guys up front, and when we can run the ball like that we’re going to be successful.

Sep 13, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) throws a pass during the first half of their game against the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

On if he wasn’t afraid to take shots down the field early on…

Yeah, I felt like I missed Decker on one. Came back and hit (Chris) Owusu on another one and he made a great play. We’ve got a lot of talent on the outside with those guys. They are going to make plays downfield all year long.

On what turned around for the offense to find chemistry…

I think just getting into that tempo, two-minute drill, I think that helped us out a lot and helped us capture some of the momentum.

On the talk of his inadequacies and if his intellect and accuracy are overlooked…

I don’t really care. I care about the guys in this locker room. My eight-year-old son has become a little more vocal about his opinion of some of my plays. I care about that, too.

On what he says…

I don’t know, we’ll see after this. He’ll probably judge my performance and we’ll see what he says. Hopefully he’s happy.

Next: New York Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick is the answer they need

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