Ryan Fitzpatrick won't be going under the knife following his significant hip injury, but the Washington quarterback is still expected to miss about half of the 2021 season.
The 38-year-old signal-caller is handling his injury "non-surgically," opting for rehab instead of surgery after suffering a hip subluxation in the Football Team's Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Thursday on NFL NOW. Fitzpatrick is slated to miss around eight weeks, Rapoport added, though the QB could theoretically be back sooner.
Washington placed Fitzpatrick on injured reserve Tuesday, ruling him out through at least Week 4. It appears though that Fitz won't be back until Week 10 or later in November.
In his place, Taylor Heinicke will take the reins under center. The 28-year-old quarterback is slated to start Thursday night against the New York Giants, while Ron Rivera favorite Kyle Allen will be Washington's backup QB going forward. The Football Team also signed Kyle Shurmur to the practice squad this week.
Rivera said recently, after it was known Fitzpatrick's injury was a multi-week issue, that Washington had no plans to add a veteran quarterback to the roster. We'll see if that remains the case now that Fitzpatrick's timeline is more clear.
