The NFL preseason serves as a testing ground for broadcasters just as much as it does for players. But unfortunately for Amazon Prime NFL analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick, his practice exercise on Thursday’s broadcast of a preseason matchup between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots is being used against him to paint an inaccurate portrayal of his feelings about Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Joined by Charissa Thompson on the sidelines during Thursday’s pregame show on Amazon Prime Video, Thompson asked the former NFL quarterback to give a mock analysis of Dart from the perspective of the on-air character “Jake from State Farm.”
Playing along with the role, Fitzpatrick gave a rather pessimistic review of Dart as a player, critiquing his slow release and explaining how Giants fans shouldn’t be excited about Dart as a player.
“You know, for Jaxson Dart, it’s exciting. He’s got leadership. He’s got intelligence. He’s got moxie, which is a fun thing,” Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t like his release. I think it’s slow. He dances like Drew Lock. I’m not a huge fan. I don’t think Giants fans should be excited at all.”
Anyone with the proper context would understand that, based on the prompt given by Thompson, Fitzpatrick was not giving this analysis based on his own beliefs. However, NFL aggregator Dov Kleiman (or whoever runs that account now) presented the clip of Fitzpatrick’s comments on social media as if they were his actual thoughts.
Holy Sh*t: Ryan Fitzpatrick got caught ROASTING Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart on the hot mic in the pregame show.
“I don’t like his release, I think it’s slow…Giants fans shouldn’t be excited at all.”
😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/6yh7nPxtm6
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 21, 2025
Given that account’s lengthy history of misrepresenting media members’ stances or misquoting them entirely, it is likely that he was aware Fitzpatrick was doing a bit.
Conveniently, Kleiman did not post a clip from later on in the broadcast when Fitzpatrick discussed his actual thoughts about Dart, which were predictably far more complimentary of Dart’s abilities.
“Oh my goodness,” said Fitzpatrick later on Thursday’s pregame broadcast, which he shared in a clip posted on X to clear up the speculation about his earlier practice response to Thompson. “He’s intelligent, he’s got the arm strength. But it’s the moxie, it’s the way that he carries himself. And you see it even in the way he has played in the preseason. The arm angles, the swagger. I think guys really resonate and are drawn to a guy like that. He has the pedigree from playing a lot of snaps in college. Really excited to see when he gets out there this season.”
My thoughts on Jaxson Dart for all those interested in preseason pregame shows pic.twitter.com/xbHdK3ueJe
— Ryan Fitzpatrick (@FitzMagic_14) August 22, 2025
Fitzpatrick also spoke glowingly about Dart during his halftime breakdown with Thompson, claiming that he believes that Dart has “won over” the Giants locker room.
Enjoyed it last night NY thank you…nothing like a few pints of Guinness with the gang postgame
Here’s the halftime show:
-recap of Dart performance
– thoughts on when we’ll see him in reg. season pic.twitter.com/t0gMF65F39— Ryan Fitzpatrick (@FitzMagic_14) August 22, 2025
Hopefully, Fitzpatrick’s social media posts should clear up any confusion about how he truly feels about Dart as a player, even though several outlets ran with Kleiman’s framing.
