By Ryan Mayer

The New York Jets have had a somewhat tumultuous off season. From Muhammad Wilkerson’s franchise tag drama coming down to the wire last week to fellow defensive end Sheldon Richardson once again being suspended by the league, it’s fair to say that the team has had its fair share of drama.

One situation that remains unresolved and looming over a potentially good season is the contract negotiations with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Jets receiver Brandon Marshall has been outspoken in defense of his quarterback throughout the off season. He joined Michael Rapaport’s “I AM RAPAPORT: STEREO PODCAST” part of CBS Radio’s Play.it podcast network over the weekend to discuss his quarterback and more.

On the topic of Fitzpatrick, Marshall said that he hasn’t heard from him recently which is scary.

“I try to give support to the player, to Fitz, to Big Mo’, understanding what they’re going through because I’ve been through it. I don’t know what’s going on. To be honest, me and Fitz talk everyday, all the time, but I texted him the last two weeks three times and there’s no response. The only thing that he can do to make this right is to say he was on vacation, I was out of the country. It’s not like him. It’s scaring me right now. It’s scaring me that my guy hasn’t texted me back.”

Meanwhile, another quarterback in the AFC East has had issues this off season, but not of the same variety as Fitzpatrick. New England Patriots’ QB Tom Brady’s appeal of the DeflateGate ruling was denied and he will serve a four game suspension to begin the season. As a divisional rival, you’d think Marshall would be happy about the prospect of Brady missing four games and the Patriots potentially losing those games, but instead, he’s very much conflicted about how the whole thing played out.

“My approach to it, I don’t think this is every guy’s approach but, it’s two things. One, as a player you have a better chance of winning when Tom Brady isn’t on the field,” said Marshall. “To me Tom Brady is the best to ever do it. I love Tom Brady’s game and I actually love Tom Brady. So you have that aspect when he’s not on the field, when the best player on the Patriots, probably the best player in the league is not on the field then the other team has a better chance of winning. Then there’s the other side, the business side, due process. As a player, we’re still one. Although we hate playing against the Patriots and dislike the Patriots you still need to stand up for what’s right. We definitely believe that the process needs to change. I’m not speaking on what’s right, what’s wrong, did he do it or not? I just want to make sure that the players are in the best position.”

The Jets an Patriots don’t meet for the first time until November, so Brady will, barring injury be on the field when the heated rivals meet. Marshall and Rapaport discussed plenty of other topics, from living in New York to fantasy football. You can listen to the full podcast below and find previous episodes here.

Ryan Mayer is an Associate Producer for CBS Local Sports. Ryan lives in NY but comes from Philly and life as a Philly sports fan has made him cynical. Anywhere sports are being discussed, that’s where you’ll find him.