Former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is standing behind his harsh on-air criticism of Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, though he says he regrets one specific phrase from a postgame rant that went viral after Denver’s 17-14 win over the Seattle Seahawks last Thursday on Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football.”
Speaking on a recent episode of his podcast “Fitz and Whit,” Fitzpatrick said the line accusing Nix of being disrespectful to the quarterback position went too far.
“The line about being disrespectful to the quarterback position, it boiled over, and that’s the one phrase I wish I could have taken back, because I think my criticism was fair,” Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t think the effort and the competitiveness that he’s shown in the past, I don’t think he was showing that at the end of the game. That is somewhere I usually don’t go, but that’s what I felt.”
Beyond that single phrase, the 17-year NFL veteran did not back away from his assessment, saying something seems off with Nix’s play.
“Something’s going on with him. I don’t know what it is,” Fitzpatrick said. “You watched C.J. Stroud and Trevor Lawrence in that game at Wembley, going toe to toe, one after another. Even Aaron Rodgers and Jalon Daniels in the fourth quarter. You had Josh Allen and Kirk Cousins, and you had Jacoby Brissett, and you had Matthew Stafford just going at it. That’s the type of competitiveness that the quarterback position deserves.”
Fitzpatrick’s focus on Nix came even though the Broncos won the game and Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold threw two interceptions. Fitzpatrick said he chose not to dwell on Darnold’s mistakes.
“I don’t want to talk about Sam Darnold’s two interceptions because, look, playing quarterback is hard, and there are a lot of things that you can’t control,” Fitzpatrick said. “But there are things you can control, and when you decide to turn it down, maybe that’s what really bothered me.”
Former Broncos star Aqib Talib pushed back on Fitzpatrick’s criticism, questioning his playing credentials. Fitzpatrick responded playfully to Talib in a video posted Sunday but waited until his podcast appearance to fully address the Nix controversy.
