Minkah Fitzpatrick Says ‘Jets Beating Jets’ Comment Caused No Stir in Locker Room

Minkah Fitzpatrick said Thursday that his comment after the New York Jets’ 38-33 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders never caused a stir inside the team’s locker room.

After Sunday’s game, multiple reporters quoted the safety as saying, “I think we had some bad penalties, bad mistakes. Jets being Jets.” Two hours later, a Jets spokesperson told reporters that Fitzpatrick meant to say “Jets beating the Jets.”

Fitzpatrick did not know there was a potential mix-up until late in the afternoon, when the team’s media staff told him.

“It hasn’t really caused any stir within this locker room,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think that’s the most important thing. Everybody within this locker room knew what I was talking about. If you look at the context of what I said, if you look at what I’ve been saying all season, we’ve been addressing ‘Jets not beating Jets’ or ‘Jets beating Jets.’”

“Everybody within this locker room knows exactly what I said and what I was trying to communicate,” Fitzpatrick continued. “In my opinion, that’s all that matters.”

New York led 30-21 with 8:26 left in the third quarter. The Raiders outscored the Jets 17-3 the rest of the way and kicked the go-ahead field goal with 27 seconds left.

The loss was New York’s third straight. The Jets are 2-6 and 1-5 in one-score games, and Jets coach Aaron Glenn is 5-20 since taking over.

Fitzpatrick said he mentioned the comment briefly to linebacker Demario Davis in case it came up in the locker room, and that Davis told him he knew exactly what Fitzpatrick had said. Nobody else brought it up with him.

“I know what I said, and that’s all I’m gonna say,” Fitzpatrick explained. “It doesn’t matter. We’re playing Kansas City this week. The locker room knows what I said, or what I meant to say, whatever you want to put it. I know what I said, and you guys could say there was video or this and that. I know what I said, what I meant to say. Either way, it doesn’t matter.”

Fitzpatrick wants the focus on winning, not on “shoulda, coulda, woulda.”

“More so, it bothers me in the moment when we’re a team that’s fighting to win, and we’re talking about stuff that doesn’t really matter, stuff that doesn’t play a factor into victory,” Fitzpatrick said. “Like I said, the locker room wasn’t affected at all, and the locker room knew exactly what [I meant], and that’s the most important part.”

The Miami Dolphins traded Fitzpatrick to the Jets in March. He missed two games with a groin injury sustained in the Week 1 win at Tennessee. In six games, he has 45 tackles, three pass breakups, and one interception. That interception came in Week 4 against the Chicago Bears, and it is the only one the Jets have recorded since Glenn was hired, according to Roundtable’s previous reporting.

Fitzpatrick has paired with Dane Belton at safety. Belton is tied with linebacker Jamien Sherwood for the team lead with 68 tackles.

Kansas City brought in one of the best running backs in the league, in Fitzpatrick’s opinion, and is trying to get Kenneth Walker III the ball.

“It doesn’t matter who they are, who they’ve been, what they’ve done,” Fitzpatrick said. “What matters is the fact that the Jets need to win. We’d be happy. We’d be happy with the win.”

The Chiefs are 5-2 after opening the season with five straight wins. Patrick Mahomes is completing 66.4% of his passes, with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. He threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 28-24 loss at Denver.

Last season, an ACL injury limited Mahomes to seven games. Kansas City has the fifth-ranked offense in the league, according to the Jets.

There is more of a downhill, physical demeanor to the Chiefs’ offense this season, in Fitzpatrick’s read.

“I think you just hit it on the head,” Fitzpatrick said. “His ability to extend plays. He has a great chemistry with all his receivers, his running backs. They’ve been together for quite some time, and even the new additions, they look like they’ve been there for some time as well. So just his ability to make things happen out of nothing is really hard to defend and really hard to stop.”

Jets defensive coordinator Brian Duker said Thursday that defenders cannot relax at any point in a down against Mahomes.

Roundtable has also looked at how Glenn is complicating the Jets’ trade deadline decisions.

Kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium is 1 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS.