Why the Jets game offers a chance for young Dolphins to show growth

Miami Dolphins admin October 23, 2026 0 Comments

Why the Jets game offers a chance for young Dolphins to show growth

Sunday will mean something special to Dante Trader Jr.

Sure, the Miami Dolphins safety will play a regular-season game near home — Trader is a Delaware native — for the first time since December 2025. That, however, won’t be the biggest moment for Trader and many defensive players: it will be potentially securing a win against New York Jets safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

“It will be cool to see him,” Trader quipped, “but I’m going to tell my offensive boys go at him.”

Although Fitzpatrick’s initially played for the Dolphins between 2018 and 2019, it was his recent stint in 2025 that endeared him to many within the locker room. He was a leader. He was a teacher. And to Trader, who somewhat modeled his game after Fitzpatrick, he was a mentor.

“He paid it forward for me, helped me out and gave me the keys to a lot of things last year when I was struggle, when I was doing well, everything — he was always there,” the second-year safety said.

That’s part of the reason Trader opted to train with the five-time Pro Bowler in the offseason despite Fitzpatrick being offloaded to the Jets in exchange for a seventh-round pick.

“All offseason I was training with Minkah,” Trader told the Miami Herald during training camp. “Text threads, everything showing me the ropes, just getting back to the roots, me and him 1-on-1, working out, watching film and just getting back into the basics. That’s what you got to do: go back to basics.”

That makes Sunday’s matchup a bit personal.

“I just hope he doesn’t make more plays than me,” Trader said.

Trader, however, wasn’t the only one who benefited from Fitzpatrick in 2026. A sixth-round pick in 2025, cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. was thrown into the fire as nickel despite never having played the position. Fitzpatrick’s advice was pivotal.

“You can pick his brain because he literally knows about everything,” Marshall said, adding that the then-eight-year veteran gave great instruction about the subtle intricacies of the nickel position like “blitz timing, man coverage, things like that.”

It’s safe to say a victory would be very vindicating to say the least.

“I quite literally was just picking his brain, learning from him so just being able to say I got one up on him or beat him,” would be “important,” Marshall said.

Running back Ollie Gordon II felt similarly.

“Of course we want to go out there and beat on the Jets, but it’s one of those things where it’s not practice,” Gordon said. “You get to play one of your old teammates live in action, especially with Minkah being Minkah. He’s been a great player, from the collegiate level all the way through his years in the league. He’s just one of those guys you do want to play against.”

As much as Fitzpatrick’s presence impacted the defense, the offense benefited, as well. Gordon, in fact, had a front row seat to learn from the star safety.

“His locker was right next to mine,” Gordon said. “I got to see how a vet goes through practice weeks, go through offseason weeks.”

Added Gordon: “He practiced how he played. He wasn’t at practice trying to kill a teammate or nothing like that, but it was one of those things where you could see him go through the motions, like drive on the ball but be safe on the receiver. It was one of those things on Sunday, you would see him actually do that.”

That’s why Trader’s message to Gordon has been rather simple: “go get Mink.”

To that, Gordon flashed his patented big smile and let out a little chuckle.

“Man, if two nine get in the way,” Gordon said. “It’s going to be that. It’s going to have to happen.”