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Minkah Fitzpatrick – September 9, 2019 Download PDF version

Monday, September 9, 2019

S Minkah Fitzpatrick

(There was a report that came out last night about players requesting a trade. How would you feel if you found out some of your teammates were requesting a trade?) – “It is what it is. Everybody has reasons to do that, but we all have to stick together as a team, fight it out as a team and keep moving forward.”

(What do you say to the knee-jerk reaction from some of the Dolphins fans out there after yesterday’s loss?) – “The knee-jerk reactions?”

(Their negativity.) – “I’m not really concerned about what they think and everything else, but it’s still early in the season. Coach said to us earlier there are 16 teams that are 0-1 and 16 teams that are 1-0. The only difference is how they react. That’s what’s going to control our season moving forward is how we react to this, what lessons we learn from it and how we move forward.”

(Do you sense at all that there’s any issues in the locker room given the changes the last two weeks and then to have an opener like that?) – “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. We were trying to go out there and even with all that adversity just establish ourselves as a great team, great offense, defense and special teams; but it is what it is. It happens. Like I said, all we can control is the way that we move forward, the way that we think moving forward and the way that we carry ourselves moving forward.”

(How much confidence do you have that from one week to the other can be huge difference?) – “It’s football, so every single week will be a different week. We can have a game like yesterday and on Sunday, this Sunday coming up, we can play the best game we ever played. Like I said, all it is, is how we go into it mindset-wise. That’s all that we can control. If we tell ourselves this is going to be a bad season, we listen to all of the outside noise and everything else, then that’s what it’s going to be. But if we tell ourselves all I can control is how I play and if you want to play great, you’re going to play great and make a decision to play great every day, that’s what you’re going to do. That’s all we can control.”

(What did you see on film? What were the issues in the secondary?) – “It was a lot of different things. Guys looking at the wrong – that’s what I did, personally – just looking at the wrong things. Sometimes we weren’t put in the best positon; but even still, we know it’s up to the players to make the play. Coaches can call whatever they want, but like on my play I wasn’t in the best position but I’ve still got to make a play, got to cover my guy. That’s usually what I do. I’ve just got to do my job. That’s what is all boils down to, whether it was with the front, the secondary or the linebackers. Everybody has to do their job. There’s a lot of people just not doing it or trying to do it differently than what we were coached to and that’s what happened.”

(Did you get an explanation as to why you were taken out of the game?) – “No, I did not.”

(Do you have an idea as to why?) – “No. You can talk to (Head) Coach ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) about that.”

(Would you like that? Is that something that you wanted?) – “What?”

(Getting that explanation why?) – “I don’t need an explanation.”

(Do you still want to be here?) – “Yeah. I want to play football. I’ve lost games before. It hasn’t been like this, but I’ve lost games before. Like I said, all I can control is my attitude, the joy that I have for this game and the passion for this game and that’s it.”

(Are you aware of any players actually requesting a trade or reaching out to representation for one?) – “No. No, sir.”

(You’re always going to have confidence in yourself. You know there’s talent or how much was it just technique-wise across the board?) – “All of it was us, like I said, 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. I think, like I said, we’re one of the best secondaries in the league, so we just have to focus on ourselves.”

(Do you guys believe that the secondary is all in the right position?) – “I mean, yeah. Yeah.”

(What’s it going to take against, especially, against a strong wide receiving corps like the Patriots this Sunday?) – “Do our job. That’s all it boils down to just doing our job.”

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