Dolphins - 21, New Orleans - 17.
Q. Can you walk us through that pick two at the end?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: We were in -- it was a double. We had a double on 12 and a double on, I think No. 2 to the field. My guy, I was in basically zero coverage. My guy ran the shallow, slipped in, and caught the ball.
Q. Was there any talk with Rasul, like show him how it's done?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: He's definitely getting fined. It was a great play, but he's definitely getting fined for not scoring on that play.
Q. Wait, he's actually getting --
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: Absolutely. Absolutely getting fined. Within the DB room, we have a fine system, you know what I'm saying? He's definitely getting fined for that one.
Q. How much is the fine?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: That's up for discussion.
Q. He still made a great play too, though.
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: I said it's a great play, I dapped him up, but you're getting fined. You know what I'm saying? Because you need as many points as we could get.
Q. Today the defense had big plays, pick two, all these things, just getting to the quarterback. What does it say about that group in general that continues to perform three wins in a row?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: I think I really appreciate how much this defense has been fighting. We obviously had a really rough start to the season, and I think what I appreciate most is the fact that even through our downs and our low periods, we were still sticking together. We weren't pointing fingers. We weren't worried about other guys. We were all worried about what we could do better, what I could do better. And everybody kind of took on that personality.
We uplifted each other when we made mistakes, and we really focused on just getting better over these last -- honestly the last five, six weeks. We've been seeing a gradual incline, and we've got to keep doing that, that same thing these last five weeks.
Q. Can you walk us through the strip sack and what it meant to you to keep being able to make plays for this team?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I was rushing off the edge. They had a receiver kind of in the chipper area, and I had a one-on-one with him. I beat him. Quarterback held onto the ball a little bit too long, I got to him.
That was actually my first NFL sack. So that was a big moment. I was pretty excited about that. Like I said, just excited to be out there moving around, playing different positions, and making plays for my team.
Q. What's the mindset the defense needed going back out there again after you thought maybe you had sealed it? I don't know if you had thoughts, but I think a lot of people did, with the pick two and onside kick recovered at the end of it, go out for another stop?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: That's just the name of the game, the name of playing defense. No matter how many times that we're called upon, we've got to go out there and make stops. I think really good defenses, whenever there's a change in possession or a turnover, they play really good defense during those next plays.
I think we've been doing that the last few weeks and getting the ball back to our offense.
Q. Kind of odd that's your first NFL sack.
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: Yeah. I didn't blitz a lot in Pittsburgh. Then I had one, and I got called for unnecessary roughness. So it is what it is.
Q. When you were making the pick two, how fast do you think you were going?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: Oh, not fast. I was tired. I was hurting.
(Laughter).
I looked at the Jumbotron, and I didn't see nobody behind me, so I just cruised into the end zone.
Q. Were you kind of looking for that sack? Were you wondering when is it going to come?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: No. I mean, whenever you get the opportunity to rush, you just try to do your job. Thankfully on that play, I had a one-on-one with the receiver, a guy who doesn't block a whole lot, and I was able to get to the quarterback.
Q. Was that your first two-point conversion return?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: I believe so, yeah.
Q. How have you personally performed over these last few games?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: Over these last few games, I'm not sure. I think I've just been trying to do my job at a high level, be in the right position, look at the right things.
I think early in the season, the couple plays I gave up, I was trying to see too much. I was trying to look at too many things and communicate to too many people, and I kind of honed in on what is absolutely necessary to communicate and to see. I think I've been playing better because of that.
Q. Like all quarterbacks, so much it on Tua. You know him as well as you do, on a day when he's not at his best, for the defense to bail him out, bail out the offense, especially him, what does that do for you to know today you guys had his back?
MINKAH FITZPATRICK: Honestly, we don't even see it as bailing him out. It's just doing our job. Kind of what I said earlier, no matter how many times we get called out there, we have to go out there and do our job and get the ball back to them, you know what I'm saying?
Because there's games where he, quote, unquote, bailed us out. We were having down games, and they put up 30 points or 35 points. We've got to continue to have each other's backs. The ultimate goal is to be playing complementary football, but if that doesn't happen, we've still got to go out there and execute at a high level.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports