Fitzpatrick back facing another ex-team in Titans with Bucs
By The Associated Press
Ryan Fitzpatrick has been in the NFL long enough, and been with so many different teams, that the quarterback has plenty of experience of playing somewhere in a different uniform.
Coming back to Tennessee is a bit easier thanks to such a short stint with the Titans.
"When I was here, it was such a blur because really it was just a year," Fitzpatrick said. "I'd just got released from Buffalo and was only here for a quick time. So they've done a really nice job with it. It's almost unrecognizable with some of the stuff and how it's changed so quickly."
Fitzpatrick went 3-6 filling in for Jake Locker in 2013. That was three coaches and a handful of quarterbacks ago for Tennessee with Fitzpatrick with his third team since then.
Making the return visit more enjoyable is Fitzpatrick is expected to start a second straight preseason game Saturday night for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay will be without Jameis Winston for the first three games of the season, suspended after the NFL investigated an allegation Winston groped a female Uber driver in Arizona in March 2016.
Tennessee will start Marcus Mariota, the quarterback drafted No. 2 overall in 2015 after Tampa Bay selected Winston. Mariota is on his third head coach in Mike Vrabel, who will make his home debut Saturday night. Mariota is busy learning offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur's offense and wants to follow up the touchdown drive he had in their opener at Green Bay.
"If we can go out there, operate at a high tempo, operate where everybody's on the same page, we're all communicating, being efficient, that will be definitely success," Mariota said.
Elsewhere around the NFL, Jacksonville is at Minnesota, Oakland visits the Rams, Cincinnati is at Dallas, San Francisco visits Houston, Chicago is at Denver and Seattle is at the Chargers.
What to look for around the league Saturday: