For the Jets, this was never just about getting a safety back on the field. Minkah Fitzpatrick’s return on Sunday against the Bears at Soldier Field mattered because it gave New York back a five-time Pro Bowl defender it had signed to a three-year, $40 million deal, and because the timing lined up with a problem the team still has not solved: a 20-game interceptionless streak that began in the last game of the 2024 season.
Fitzpatrick had missed time after hurting his groin in Week 1, when he played only six snaps before leaving the game. His return was the clearest sign that the Jets were getting closer to the version of their defense they imagined when the Dolphins dealt him to New York in the offseason. That move was supposed to add range, experience and playmaking. Sunday gave them another chance to see whether that vision can still become reality.
Why the return mattered
The Jets were not simply waiting on a healthy player. They were waiting on a player whose reputation is tied to impact, and impact is exactly what the Jets have lacked in the turnover department. A defense can survive without creating interceptions for a while, but 20 games is long enough to make the absence part of the team’s identity. Fitzpatrick’s presence does not guarantee a takeaway the next time the ball is in the air, but it does raise the ceiling of a unit that badly needs one.
That is what makes the return notable beyond the injury report. The Jets did not pay for a body; they paid for a difference-maker. When he is available, the secondary can be more aggressive, and the defense can play with a little more confidence in the back end. When he is not, the plan becomes harder to trust.
The Bears entered with their own personnel questions
The Bears were dealing with their own roster issues entering Sunday. On Saturday, they put Braxton Jones on injured reserve and promoted Marcus Davenport from the practice squad. They also had multiple inactive players for the game, which shaped the available rotation around Caleb Williams and the rest of the Bears’ lineup.
For the Jets, that context only sharpened the importance of getting Fitzpatrick back. If this game was going to be about solving one of the lingering questions from the start of the 2024 season, then having one of the league’s most established safeties available was a necessary first step. It did not end the interception drought by itself, but it gave the Jets the kind of player who can help turn a near miss into a turnover.
There is also the matter of fit. Nahshon Wright was on the Jets roster, but he had not played a defensive snap for them this year, which makes Fitzpatrick’s return even more relevant to how the secondary is configured. Availability matters, but so does trust. The Jets have more of both when Fitzpatrick is on the field.
The question now is not whether Fitzpatrick can change the outlook of the defense in one afternoon. It is whether the Jets can finally turn his return into something bigger: a more stable secondary, more pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and at last an end to a streak that has gone on far too long for a team that believes it has the talent to be better.
