St. Louis Rams interim coach Joe Vitt has been coy all week about whether rookie Ryan Fitzpatrick earned his first career start. But it was telling on Wednesday when the rookie from Harvard, and not veteran Jamie Martin, met with the media, usually the duty for the No. 1 quarterback. And Fitzpatrick was taking snaps with the first unit while Martin, who had a concussion and blurred vision after absorbing a blow in the first quarter of last week's overtime victory at Houston, watched in sweat clothes. Regardless of Martin's status it's been more or less an open secret around Rams Park that Fitzpatrick, a favorite of Mike Martz's since he drafted Fitzpatrick in the seventh round, will get the nod this week against the Redskins. And why not? It's tough to bench the NFC offensive player of the week. Fitzpatrick threw for 310 yards in three quarters and got the Rams (5-6) to overtime with a pair of scores in the final half-minute before throwing the winning touchdown pass to beat the Texans. His yardage is the third highest by an NFL quarterback in his first game. Still, no official announcement. "I know, it's unbelievable, it's like the Kennedy assassination," Vitt said after practice. "We'll make that decision later in the week."