The Jets' veteran safety Minkah Fitzpatrick returned to the field after missing a pair of games with a groin injury, enduring 89 plays Chicago ran on offense in the Bears' 23-12 victory at Soldier Field on Sunday.
"I've been in this situation many times before, and I know the most important thing to focus on in these moments is our execution," the nine-year NFL vet said. "It's also important to look at ourselves in the mirror and say let's be real and acknowledge if this isn't working, you got to stop doing it or find a way to do it better. So yeah, just a combination of those things."
In his first game back in action since the opening drive in the Week 1 win at Tennessee, Fitzpatrick, teaming with Andre Cisco and Dane Belton at safety, snagged the Jets' first interception of the season when he stepped in front of TE Colston Loveland to grab a pass by QB Tyson Bagnet. The Chicago turnover, one of their two in the game, led to a 36-yard field goal by K Jason Sanders midway through the third quarter to make the score, 13-6.
"We were in a two-high defense and I had one receiver to my side and he was running a vertical and broke inside and I just drove on the ball," Fitzpatrick said about the interception.
It was the 22nd INT of Fitzpatrick's career, tied for the eighth-most in the league since he entered in 2018.
To go along with 89 plays, the Bears had the ball for 42:45 and totaled 492 net yards. Chicago was also 7 of 15 (47%) on third down and 2 of 3 (67%) on fourth down.
"Like you don't want to be in a field that much, you know what I mean," he said, referring to Chicago's 89 plays on offense. "I still got to do my job and keep guys down, but that's what we need to do every week."
