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Todd Bowles: Ryan Fitzpatrick is Jets’ starting QB

Fitzpatrick was a free agent who was locked in a contract stalemate with the Jets since free agency began in March.

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I personally think it’s hard to be unhappy with this. No, because I ask him how his kids are doing, how’s your golf game, those type of things.

“All along, all I wanted was a fair and reasonable deal”, he said. Geno hasn’t been the starter of the Jets since he was punched in the face last season by former teammate IK Enemkpali. “I didn’t want to miss any camp time”.

“I’ll tell you what”. We only play one game at a time so you can only worry about one game at a time.

A year ago, he was preparing to be the starter with Fitzpatrick as his backup.

If Fitzpatrick doesn’t come back, then the job is all Smith’s. If Fitzpatrick shows big regression, Smith can get one last chance to salvage his career, and the Jets can keep the other young guys from being pressed into the lineup. Smith, meanwhile, was left as a spectator with an uncertain future. He immediately slipped a spot on the depth chart when the Jets re-signed Fitzpatrick, making the deal official shortly before practice Thursday. He wasn’t pleased about it and made that clear to the Jets, and the weeks turned into months with Fitzpatrick still unsigned.

Fitzpatrick has thrown for 23,178 yards with 154 touchdowns and 116 interceptions in 11 National Football League seasons. There was such a he said-she said back-and-forth going on.

“I was just all excited to see everybody and to be back in the building because through the entire offseason program, I wasn’t allowed to be there”.

Should Ryan Fitzpatrick be getting paid more next season?

“I didn’t have a door code”, Fitzpatrick said, smiling. “I’d rather go out there and prove it on the field”.

“I’ve improved as a quarterback and I believe in the guys around me”, he said.

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He added: “I thought that it would always get done”. Offensively, they can be very dominant under Fitzpatrick and with Brandon Marshall second in command. He continued to say that while the process appeared it was going to turn out to be a long process, he attempted to put it to the side and just live his life. And on Wednesday, he again came to his quarterback’s rescue. “That’s not how I view myself”.

New York Jets finally sign Ryan Fitzpatrick