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Eric Decker told the NFL Network he is pretty tired of talking about the Ryan Fitpatrick contract situation. But you now what, IMO, he’s more tired of something else.
During a one-on-one interview with NFL Media’s Tiffany Blackmon — airing Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET on NFL Total Access — Jets receiver Eric Decker said he’s tired of answering the Fitzpatrick questions.
“On a scale from 1 to 10, I’m at a 10,” Decker said when asked how sick he is of the inquires. “All offseason, in New York, having to answer questions.”
I don’t blame him for getting tired of answering all those questions. It got tedious to ask them and answer them after a while.
Just ask Todd Bowles. He got the most questions. Mr. Coffee got a lot as well, but he doesn’t do nearly as many press conferences at Bowles.
“With all due respect, I’m through talking about Fitz,” Bowles said on June 16. “I’m going to worry about the guys I have on the team. I think I’ve expressed and said everything about the quarterbacks that I’m going to say at this standpoint.”
The NFL asked Decker about Geno Smith, the current starter with Fitzpatrick out of the picture, for now.
“That’s kinda how our mentality was this offseason,” Decker said. “Geno did a great job of his development. We’ve had a lot of success in areas and we’ve been stressing throughout this year and that’s red zone, third down. He’s done a good job of taking that leadership role and really helping us have success. I’m excited about this progression and where he’s at.”
And this gets me to the main point I want to make today.
Yes, Decker is fed up with answering questions about Fitzpatrick’s contract situation and absence.
But I think there is something bothering him even more than that – Fitz not being signed yet.
It’s really nice of him to talk up Geno Smith. That is what a good teammate should do when talking to the media.
But clearly while Smith has made some progress, Decker wants Fitzpatrick to be the quarterback. That is pretty obvious.
From what I heard, and I reported this in the latest issue of Jets Confidential Magazine, the Decker “boycott” from one week of OTA’s, might have been related to something most people didn’t consider. While yes, it partially could have been a show of solidarity with Fitz, from what I hear, a bigger reason probably was that Decker felt it was a little bit of a waste to time to spending all that time on the field, in myriad spring practices, with a quarterback who isn’t going to be the starter.
You can understand where he’s coming from. It is kind of a waste of time. Some work with Geno yes, but an entire spring of the starting receivers working with a guy who isn’t going to be the starter? Talk about spinning your wheels.
So yes, Decker is tired of talking about Fitz’s contract, but I think he’s more tired of Fitz not being signed yet.
June 23, 2016
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