Ryan Fitzpatrick Assesses Former Team's Current Quarterback Situation

Jets' record holder opines on Zach Wilson and the idea of a veteran replacement

Ryan Fitzpatrick knows what it's like. 

The retired quarterback-turned-analyst spent two seasons in the position that Zach Wilson now occupies. 

"It's a really tough situation right now. I think everybody in that city, and on that team, they're still reeling from Aaron Rodgers going down in that first game. It's disheartening to see because they're such a talented roster," said Fitzpatrick.

In his second year as part of Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football coverage, Fitzpatrick has kept tabs on the New York Jets' recent rollercoaster ride. He shared his observations in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated this week.

Fitzpatrick, who owns the Jets' single-season franchise record for touchdown passes, provided an assessment of Wilson before exploring whether the team should add a proven veteran quarterback in the wake of Rodgers's injury.

"I was proud of the way that Zach played. It's not an easy city to play in. And he's obviously received a bunch of grief as these weeks have gone on, but for him to improve like that, hopefully we continue to see growth," said Fitzpatrick.

In arguably his most-complete performance as a pro, Wilson led a near-upset of the defending Super Bowl champions on Sunday Night Football in Week 4. His 105.6 quarterback rating dwarfs the 63.6 figure that Kansas City Chiefs' super star Patrick Mahomes posted on the primetime stage.

While Wilson's newfound efficiency was impressive, it was not enough to secure a victory. The 23-20 loss dropped the Jets to 1-3 overall with a wildly important game against Denver awaiting.

"The problem is as these losses stack up, you just feel the season slipping away," said Fitzpatrick.

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The 40-year-old retired gunslinger, however, questioned the feasibility of replacing Wilson with a quarterback who has yet to be acquired. 

"People floated around options of making a trade, per se Kirk Cousins. I don't know if that's even a possibility. Ryan Tannehill has been floated around which I think would be a great option as well," said Fitzpatrick, who spent 17 seasons as an NFL quarterback. "The problem the Jets are in right now is, what's the other possibility? They have somebody on their practice squad, but Zack proved this week that he deserves another week based on who's on their roster right now."

With Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian being the only other arms available to the Jets right now, it looks like they'll ride with Wilson for the foreseeable future.

Sports Illustrated senior NFL writer Albert Breer suggested there's reason to be excited about the Jets choosing that option, pointing to a particular stat line that came out of Sunday night's setback.  

"If there’s one statistical line that should actually get people excited not about how Zach Wilson played against the Chiefs, but how that projects going forward, it’d be this one: 26-of-34, 233 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs," wrote Breer. "Those are the third-year quarterback’s numbers after the Jets fell behind 17–0 against the Super Bowl champions late in the first quarter."

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