Fitzpatrick Texts to Marshall and Decker

Rexandthecity posted this today and I thought it deserved it's own thread. Awesome read about our QB and our top receivers:

http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/foo...rick-hit-mark-jet-receivers-article-1.2365346

"Newborn Eric Thomas Decker II was probably slobbering, sleeping or screaming when the text message popped into his dad’s phone on a recent day off.

Pop’s bearded co-worker had more questions.

Ryan Fitzpatrick’s pursuit of perfection is an around-the-clock operation that includes texting video clips to Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall whenever an idea pops into his brain.

“Any time, any day,” Marshall told the Daily News with a smile. “It’s all a test.”

Fitzpatrick’s mastery of Chan Gailey’s offense has prompted impromptu texts to his top two pass-catching weapons as part of his new-age mind-meld that he hopes will give the Jets an edge on game days.

Decker and Marshall’s smart phones are filled with short video clips covering the spectrum of plays that the veteran believes could be useful in a given week. Fitzpatrick might capture a play from years ago that worked for him in Buffalo or a more recent defensive look from the upcoming opponent.

Decker might be with his wife and two infant children when a text arrives. Marshall recently got one while doing a segment on his TV show in the city.

“If I see something that I want to make sure we get communicated, I’ll just snap it,” Fitzpatrick told The News. “I’m not calling them in here and being like, ‘Alright, come watch three hours of film with me.’ I’m saying, ‘Hey, take 15 seconds out of your day and take a look.’ But they like it.”

The dialogue typically begins with a question from the quarterback with the accompanying video: What would you do if you had a choice route in the slot here? Don’t worry about the outcome of the play.

“It’s energizing,” said Marshall, scrolling through recent clips on his phone. “It’s something I’ve been waiting for for the past five or six years… to play with a quarterback who approaches the game that way. I always want to communicate and talk. I trust what he sees and what he’s doing.”

Decker attacks these pop quizzes with his own questions to get a better sense of the big picture. He’ll ask Fitzpatrick for details on the full route combination. What are the responsibilities of the receivers on the back side? What’s the down and distance? How much time is left in the game?

tzpatrick, Marshall and Decker have each been around long enough to know that the realities on fall Sundays don’t necessarily mirror what’s taught in the classroom.

“On paper, a slant route is a slant route, a corner route is a corner route,” Decker told The News. “But in a game it’s not really that way. You have to be creative. You gotta get around people and run it at different angles. (Fitzpatrick) wants to know when he’s got four big dudes running at him, where he can release the football? If you’re on the same page and you trust one another, it makes the percentage of completions that much higher.”

Fitzpatrick’s routine is designed to “get into their minds and understand what they’re thinking.” No hours are off limits.

The lessons via text give the trio a head start for the weekly game plan installation during Wednesday’s practice. Fitzpatrick will have a working knowledge of Marshall and Decker’s route preferences against specific defensive coverages that the upcoming opponent has shown before the three of them walk on the practice field that week.

It’s an efficient and smart approach that has been a welcomed case of deja vu for Decker, who was exposed to Peyton Manning’s brain power in Denver.

“He just wants see how we look at the game and how we feel the situation,” Decker said of Fitzpatrick. “That’s awesome. It reminds me a lot of Peyton. Peyton would do the same thing. When you see the game the same way and when you can feel it the same way, the trust just goes to another level. That’s what separates teams from being okay to being good to being great.”

In a league filled with talented players, chemistry often gives teams an edge. (See: Aaron Rodgers and James Jones last week.)

Fitzpatrick’s chemistry with Decker and Marshall netted a pair of touchdowns in the season opener against the Browns. The quarterback is mindful of Decker and Marshall’s personal and family responsibilities on off days, but points out that, “We’re in football season… and I have five kids.”

“They can even fake listen if they want,” Fitzpatrick joked. “Maybe they’ll think they’ll get more passes if they fake being attentive.”

They’re building trust one after-hours text at a time."