After the disappointing 24-17 loss to the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium Sunday, Ryan Fitzpatrick still believes he can help the Jets turn their season around.
"I'm the right man for the job," said the 11th-year signalcaller on a conference call with reporters on Monday. "I think, fortunately and unfortunately, I've got a lot of experience in playing for teams that have been in this situation where we lost a few games and we've got to stay the course, we've got to right the ship, and we've got to do all of that stuff.
"I think at this point in my career I've learned a ton, and all of the different situations that I've been in, I have no problem shouldering any blame that gets thrown my way and all the blame I deserve and don't deserve."
One of the glaring areas where the Green & White struggled against the Texans was in converting just three of 14 third downs. Also late in the fourth quarter, Fitzpatrick threw two interceptions that snapped any chances of the Jets pulling out a victory in Houston.
"Obviously, none of us are happy with the effort, none of us were happy with the way the game went down," he said. "And I think the message was clear that we've got to put our focus into this week and make sure we get this thing back on the right track."
When asked about the slow starts to games and if injuries have played a key factor with the offense's production, Fitzpatrick simply replied, "No, it's just been poor execution.
"The thing about an offense is you've got to have 11 guys on the same page, 11 guys doing their jobs, and if you don't, sometimes you can get lucky and overcome it. But, a lot of the times it's going to be tough sledding. We got to make sure that we've got everybody on the right page, going the right direction, and obviously that starts with me getting us in the right play and making the right read, making a good throw."
The Jets are coming off back-to-back losses and the team is faced with bumps and bruises that players endure late in the season. However, Fitzpatrick blames the lack of offensive production on himself after finishing Sunday's matchup with 19 of 39 for 216 yards with a TD run and a TD pass.
"I haven't played well the last few games," he said. "It's not an easy game. You've just got to continue to prepare in the film room, continue to prepare running the game plan and doing everything on the practice field and hope that it translates. But that's the only way I know how to fix things is to continue to work hard and ignore the outside noise."
As the team gets back to work and all eyes are on the Miami Dolphins, Fitzpatrick is focused and knows what the team has been lacking for the last several weeks.
"I think confidence is a lot of it," the quarterback said. "You know, just getting some sort of swagger back and all of that is going to come through preparation and working hard at practice. It's just going to start clicking in games. We've just got to get that confidence back."
