Brandon Marshall passionately defended Ryan Fitzpatrick after the quarterback's past 2 brutal games
The New York Jets dropped to 1-3 on the season following a 27-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4.
For the second straight week, the Jets were plagued by poor quarterback play from Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw three more interceptions. He's now thrown nine interceptions over the last two weeks and has 10 on the season.
Though Fitzpatrick wasn't solely to blame for the loss, his issues with avoiding turnovers were again in the spotlight, particularly as he threw a game-sealing interception with 55 seconds to remain.
After the game, several members of the Jets shot down the idea of benching Fitzpatrick; however, none did so as passionately as wide receiver Brandon Marshall. When asked after the game, if he's losing faith in Fitzpatrick as the team's quarterback, Marshall responded, pausing for dramatic effect:
"I am. Going down. In the boat. With Ryan Fitzpatrick. Okay? You got it? So can you not ask me any more questions about that? I am going down in the boat with No. 14."
AMAZON'S BEST-SELLING JERSEYS:
It's a strong, though somewhat odd analogy by Marshall. Though he's declaring his confidence in Fitzpatrick, it also mirrors what has been going on on the field — that Fitzpatrick and the Jets are going down.
While Marshall also publicly declared his support for Fitzpatrick in the offseason, it's getting harder to justify Fitzpatrick remaining the starter. The backup options, Geno Smith, Bryce Petty, and Christian Hackenberg, aren't much more appealing, but it's also tougher to get much worse than throwing nine interceptions to one touchdown in two games.
With road games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals coming up, the Jets are in danger of falling to 1-5, which would all but seal their fate in the AFC East. With support from Marshall, and more importantly, head coach Todd Bowles, it doesn't seem like Fitzpatrick's hold on the job is shaky, but it's fair to wonder how long they'll stay by him if he continues to perform so poorly.
TOURING EVERY NFL STADIUM:
