Jets' Ryan Fitzpatrick confident he can have a breakout year in 2015

If not for a strange twist of fate, Ryan Fitzpatrick likely would have opened the 2015 season backing up Geno Smith for the New York Jets. But the starting job is now his to lose, and by the sounds of it, he won't be giving it up so easily.

Fitzpatrick is confident he can have a breakout year at almost 33 years old, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.

"Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt about that," Fitzpatrick said. "So much of the game for the quarterback is the mental side of it. Everybody always talks about my arm and how horrible it is. I promise ... you can put on some tape (and see) that I can make all the throws that you want me to make or that I need to make. ... I see myself continuing to get better rather than declining."

Overcoming odds is nothing new for Fitzpatrick, though. He entered the league as a seventh-round pick out of Harvard, which isn't exactly known for fostering professional football talent.

"That's been the perception every year," Fitzpatrick said. "Somehow I keep sticking around and finding new jobs. So I don't really listen to the perception. I hear it, for sure. I just kind of shrug my shoulders and make sure that I focus on what I can control and focus on getting myself better."