Minkah Fitzpatrick Isn’t Ready

Here’s where I need to eat a little bit of crow. I fully bought into the hype on Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. He was one of my players to watch this week, and I anticipated another week of big things from him against the Raiders. Well, he delivered big things, all right. Big mistakes, that is. The Miami Dolphins secondary took a big blow this week with the absence of safety Reshad Jones to a shoulder injury. Rookie Minkah Fitzpatrick was asked to step in and fill Jones’ shoes. I thought he was ready. “FitzMagic” looked incredible in his first two games. He was making big-time tackles. He showed great coverage skills. Losing Jones for a week wasn’t going to be a huge issue, I thought. I was wrong.

Fitzpatrick looked completely lost in his first big-time assignment of his NFL career. He was beaten deep on several plays throughout the game, including getting beaten by Jordy Nelson on a huge gain. The same Jordy Nelson who most thought was over the hill and hadn’t produced anything of not this season. More upsetting than getting beaten, Fitzpatrick looked genuinely confused. He was in the wrong place, making the wrong reads early and often. His play improved as the game went on, but it wasn’t a strong showing.

Jones will likely be back next week against the Patriots, moving Fitzpatrick back to his slot cornerback position. I’m still convinced Fitzpatrick is going to be a very good safety in this league, but it might be time to pump the brakes a little bit on the hype train. Fitzpatrick will get a chance to redeem himself in a big way next week. Miami faces off against the New England Patriots and Rob Gronkowski. Gronk figures to be a large part of the game plan, as covering tight ends has been problematic for the Dolphins. Fitzpatrick is likely going to draw that match-up. Miami is going to need him to step up in a big way.

So there you have it, folks. A bit of a mixed bag this week, but a lot of good to take away from this win. Now it’s on to New England. Hopefully, when you read my columns next week, they’ll be starting with “the Miami Dolphins are 4-0”!

Honorable Mention: The Dolphins are living by the big play. If it weren’t for a couple of timely interceptions, and a perfectly executed trick play, this column might be drastically different. Winning games by relying on the big play isn’t sustainable through an entire season.