“My heart just hurt all day,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was heartbreaking for me … that’s the decision and the direction that the organization is going in, and this eventually was going to happen no matter (what) — it was just a matter of when, not if. It still just broke my heart yesterday and it’s a tough thing for me to hear and to now have to deal with, but I’m going to do my best with it.”
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“There’s a lot of stuff going through my mind, just from a personal standpoint, not necessarily with the team,” Fitzpatrick said. “(I thought) … ‘Is this it? Was that my last game as an NFL player in terms of being the starter and going out there and playing?’ And you just kind of go through all those different scenarios. I’ve been a starter. I’ve been benched all kinds of different ways, but this one — this one just really more so than any of them — I think this organization and what we’ve been through the last year and a half, this was kind of the first place, other than Buffalo, where I just felt fully committed and invested and felt like it was my team.
“I think that’s a lot of the reason why my heart was so heavy yesterday. That’s a direction that the organization is going and I’ve just got to accept it.”
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“This profession is interesting in that I basically got fired yesterday and then my day of work today consisted of me in Zoom meetings listening to the guy that fired me,” Fitzpatrick said. “And then (I was) locked in a spaced-out room with my replacement for four hours today. There aren’t a whole lot of jobs that are like that, but I know how difficult it is to play the quarterback position and I know that that room is so important to the guy that’s playing in terms of everybody having your back and pulling in the same direction. So today is a day to digest a little bit, and we’ll get away for the bye a little bit.
“But once this thing starts up again, I’ve got to do my best for Tua to help him out because there’s two separate situations here. One is with Tua. I want him to do well and I think he’s a great kid, and I think he has a really bright future. The other (situation) is my feelings and just kind of what I’m going through, and that has to be separate from when I walk into this building and help him out. I’ve got to separate those feelings from trying to be a professional and help him out as best I can.”
Fitzpatrick concluded: “If you draft a guy fifth overall and put him in, this isn’t a temporary — this is a forever decision. This is a long-term decision. I think those two situations are very different. I’m always ready to go and I could probably come out of the stands and play in five years if I needed to without picking up a football. But (I’m) just, again, accepting the role that I’ve now been given and trying to do the best I can in that role.”