Fitzpatrick Reinjures Broken Hand

Ryan Fitzpatrick’s speedy recovery lasted all of 22 minutes and 49 seconds.

Less than a week after having the cast on his right arm removed, Harvard’s junior quarterback found his throwing hand back in plaster after re-aggravating his broken hand in Saturday’s 30-16 loss to Dartmouth.

“I was surprised when I learned that he broke his hand,” said freshman tailback Clifton Dawson, who found out about the injury at practice Sunday night. “He’s such a great competitor that if the game is on the line he’ll do whatever it takes, even if it means playing with a broken hand. He’s just the type of player to  do so.”

Fitzpatrick, who could not be reached for comment, entered the game briefly in the second quarter and came in for good midway through the third. The play on which he sustained the injury is unclear, as was the case when he was first injured four weeks ago at Cornell.

Following the game, the only signs of pain Fitzpatrick exhibited were those of emotional anguish following his two-interception fourth-quarter performance, when he attempted to rejuvenate a stagnant Crimson offense.

“Ryan was cleared by the medical staff, and he looked really good in practice the two days before,” Dawson said. “Everyone was really confident he’d be able to come in and help the team in whatever way possible.”

Though his tests in the days leading up to game time showed no break and Fitzpatrick rated his own health at 100 percent immediately following the game’s conclusion, it was evident at practice Sunday evening that all was not as it should be.

“No meeting was called,” Dawson said. “We just saw the cast back on and each player just sort of went up to Ryan and asked him, ‘What’s going on? What happened?’”

Ironically it was Fitzpatrick’s drive to return to the field and his determination to lead the team to victory that ultimately set up this second setback in four weeks.

“Everyone put in that situation would feel the same way,” sophomore center Will Johnson said. “You want to get back and contribute as soon as possible. He just kinda got a bad break, no pun intended.”

What exactly happened to cause that bad break and what will happen in the three weeks that remain in the season is not yet clear. But with his arm in a cast, it seems unlikely that Fitzpatrick will take the field this weekend at Columbia.

Whether he’ll return in time for Penn or Yale—Harvard’s two most important matchups of the season—has yet to be determined.

“No one could really comment on that except for the doctors,” Dawson said. “With his arm in a cast, I’m sure Ryan doesn’t even know.”

Though Fitzpatrick had returned for less than a week, the energy that he provided to the offense upon returning to the field will be sorely missed as the team makes a desperate drive towards a share of the Ivy title—a task that seems even more monumental given the uncertainty that surrounds Fitzpatrick’s return.

“When he is on the field, the whole team rallies around him,” Dawson said. “It’s sad to see one of our brothers go down, both because of how much he means to us but also for his own feelings.”

If Fitzpatrick returns to the sidelines, junior Garrett Schires, who narrowly led the Crimson to victory twice in Fitzpatrick’s absence, would take the helm once more.

“Garrett’s shown that he can get the job done and we’re all behind him,” Johnson said. “Because Garrett’s done such a good job, everyone supports him.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.