After a chaotic week, Minkah Fitzpatrick offered a gold standard that every Dolphins player should aspire to meet
Minkah set the record straight and also a standard for the locker room.
After a rocky week in South Florida, it’s nice to see someone with the Miami Dolphins tackle things the right way when put in a tough spot. That’s what we got on Friday afternoon when Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick spoke to the media and was asked about his role in the coverage breakdown late in Miami’s 29-27 loss to the Chargers.
There was no finger-pointing. There was a clear explanation of what went wrong, and there was a lot of “I.”
The play in question is Ladd McConkey’s long catch-and-run to set up the game-deciding kick in the final minute, in which there was a coverage call miscommunication that allowed McConkey to be turned loose underneath.
Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick breaks down key coverage breakdown vs. Chargers and shows leadership in the process
“It’s a Cover 1 with a robber, like a rat. On those mesh plays, you usually get cut. I saw a little way over with the mesh coming back my way, and I heard a cut call, but he was talking to the high guy and not to me. I fell off on it, thinking he was talking to me, and I’d seen the mesh coming from across the field, free, so I thought the guy across the field dropped his guy as well. It was a miscommunication. I’ve got to stay on my guy and know that I wasn’t the one getting cut,” said Fitzpatrick.
“We’ve been doing that since the first game, to be honest. We just haven’t been running it as much because two of our nickels went down. Now I’m pretty much the full-time nickel, so I think it’s been a good look. I’ve been more involved in the game, getting action early on, getting to cover, and getting to show my versatility.”
2025 Miami Dolphins upcoming schedule
- Week 7: Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns
- Week 8: Dolphins @ Atlanta Falcons
- Week 9: Baltimore Ravens @ Miami (TNF)
- Week 10: Buffalo Bills @ Miami
- Week 11: Dolphins v. Washington Commanders (Spain)
Minkah Fitzpatrick played a lot of competitive football in Pittsburgh. The Miami team he returned to is in some ways even more dysfunctional than the one he left in 2019. He very well may be unhappy with it all.
But man, it’s great to see someone’s explanation for shortcomings on an issue be littered with “I” in a way that seized ownership on what needs to be done differently. This is the kind of individual ownership and accountability of Miami’s issues that everyone needs across the board. It goes back to the quote we got on Friday from Nick Saban, who coached Fitzpatrick and Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama.
“I think everybody’s got to take responsibility for what they can control, and if you start worrying about things that you can’t control, that’s going to start affecting things that you can control. But if everybody takes responsibility for their own self-determination and do what they can do to make the team better?” said Saban on Friday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show when asked about Tagovailoa’s comments this week.
This is how it’s done, folks. This is what it’s supposed to look like when things go awry. What does it say that it’s the guy who spent the last six years in Pittsburgh instead of Miami who is showing that standard? That, I’m not sure. But it’s still great to see, nonetheless, particularly after the circus the Dolphins turned into this past week.
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