Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the Bucs starter once again
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are quickly heading south coming off their fourth loss in the last five games after suffering a 37-34 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
These shortcomings featured quarterback Jameis Winston being benched in the contest after throwing four interceptions in the third quarter with backup Ryan Fitzpatrick filling in. The Bucs have now decided to roll with Fitzpatrick for Week 9 action against the Carolina Panthers as head coach Dirk Koetter made that announcement on Monday, according to Jenna Laine of ESPN.
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“We’re gonna start Fitz this week. That’s what we feel like we need to do to give ourselves the best chance,” said Koetter, who would not commit to a starter beyond this week.
“This is just for right now. Right now. I mean, the most important thing we got is this week. We’ll just have to see how things go. I don’t like switching quarterbacks. That’s not in my make-up to switch quarterbacks. But I just feel like we’ve got to make the switch at this time.”
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It has been a struggle for Winston since making his return to the field after serving a three-game suspension as he has thrown 10 interceptions along with fumbled twice. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick had a strong showing filling in for the Florida State product against the Bengals, where he completed 11-of-15 for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns that helped erase an 18-point deficit in the second half.
He held down the starting job while Winston was out of the lineup as he began the season on a blazing pace with three straight games of 400 passing yards and three touchdown passes. Fitzpatrick currently has 1,550 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions.
As a result, this could be an opportunity for Fitzpatrick to make a strong case to be the starter moving forward this season.
