Minkah Fitzpatrick is widely regarded as one of the cornerstone players on the Dolphins’ defense. The 11th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Fitzpatrick came to the Dolphins with an impressive resume and loads of versatility — which hasn’t always been to his favor through his first 17 NFL games. Fizpatrick’s versatility has tested him, kept his role irregular and effectively forced him to serve as a bandaid for the holes in Miami’s back seven.
But he still had a promising rookie season and was expected — along with LB Jerome Baker, CB Xavien Howard and DL Christian Wilkins — to serve as the foundation of Miami’s best unit. That didn’t happen on Sunday against the Ravens.
Fitzpatrick had his worse game as a pro — allowing 6 receptions on 6 targets for 117 yards and three touchdowns according to the scoring of Pro Football Focus.
To put it in a different perspective, any one of you could have gone out and been as productive as Minkah Fitzpatrick on those six targets on Sunday. It was bad.
And while Fitzpatrick admits it’s been a tough few weeks of upheaval, he is ready to have another crack at the Patriots next weekend and redeem himself.
“It is tough. There were a lot of changes made. A lot of guys came in here on Monday and Tuesday of last week and it is tough,” said Fitzpatrick.
“All of (the struggles) was us just not doing our job. I think talent-wise we’ve got a great secondary, one of the best secondaries in the league. But just technique-wise, not making excuses for ourselves and not trying to point the fingers is going to allow us to move forward.”
The confidence is there — will the execution follow suit? Fitzpatrick is ready to put the weekend behind him, but the horizon won’t offer relief. The Patriots, with Antonio Brown in tow, come to town next weekend. The eye discipline and technique will need to be on point if the Dolphins are going to provide resistance and give their team a chance.
The good news? Fitzpatrick is confident that they can.
