For the previous three football seasons, Minkah Fitzpatrick has played for a championship in January. On Sunday, the defensive back will play in the Miami Dolphins' regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills, and that will end his rookie campaign in the NFL.

Fitzpatrick played in the CFP championship games for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons with Alabama -- the final two as a consensus All-American. He joined the Dolphins as the 11th player picked in the NFL Draft on April 26.

After a 17-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday extinguished Miami's postseason chances for the 2018 season, the Dolphins enter their final game with a 7-8 record.

“Ups and downs, been learning a lot, been growing as a player, been moving around, so, like I said, been learning a lot, been having fun,” Fitzpatrick told reporters in the locker room on Sunday when asked about his rookie season. "Definitely going to use this year as a learning experience, as a humbling experience.

"This offseason, do what we've got to do as a team, stick together, train together, do what we've got to do to just improve and use this season as a stepping stone to where we want to go."

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Asked about what he planned to focus on in the offseason, Fitzpatrick said: “I’ve got to know what I’m going to be playing first.”

In his first season, Fitzpatrick started his career primarily as the nickel back or slot corner. He mixed in some safety work, too, but played in more than 80 percent of Miami's defensive snaps twice in the first eight games. Since then, he's played at least 96.5 percent of the defensive snaps in every game, started at outside cornerback in the 13th and 14th contests with NFL interceptions leader Xavien Howard sidelined by a knee injury and started at safety in the most recent game with T.J. McDonald out.

Overall, Fitzpatrick's 883 snaps played rank third on the Dolphins' defense in 2018, behind linebacker Kiko Alonso and McDonald.

“He’s played four different positions for us and sometimes week-to-week,” Miami defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. “That’s not easy. For myself and the coaching staff to have that ability to just come in and say, ‘Mink, this week we have to stick you at outside corner. This is where we need the most help,’ or ‘We’re thin at nickel’ at the start of the year. He doesn’t blink. To be able to perform at the level that he’s been able to perform at, I think it’s probably being a little bit under-recognized, what he’s actually been able to do for us.”

Fitzpatrick has made 78 tackles, intercepted two passes and broken up nine in 2018.

“I feel his play – from what he’s done this year with all the things we’ve asked him to do – it’s been impressive to me,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said.

Fitzpatrick hasn't been as impressed with his play.

The Dolphins defeated the New England Patriots 34-33 on Dec. 9 with the Miami Miracle, earning a Monday off in addition to the regular Tuesday off day. But on that Monday, Fitzpatrick watched video of the game with Dolphins defensive-backs coach Tony Oden at Miami’s training facility.

“I just wasn’t really happy with my performance,” Fitzpatrick said. “It wasn’t a terrible performance after watching it with Coach and everything like that. Everything that I did, I can improve on. But I think it’s just important for me to just sit down and watch it with Coach because he’s going to give it to me real, he’s going to give it to me raw because he wants me to be at my best so I can perform my best for him. Just sitting down with the coach, especially after a not-so-good performance, it’s always beneficial, it’s always good. I think I learned a lot from it. He told me what I needed to work on, told me what I needed to focus on and got me going from there.”

In Miami's next game, Fitzpatrick jumped a short pass to Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs and returned the interception 50 yards for a touchdown.

“I watched plenty of tape," Fitzpatrick said. "I saw how often they ran that play. I was supposed to blitz, but I had a feeling it was coming my way.”

The Dolphins lost to the Vikings 41-17, then to Jacksonville to play their way out of the postseason picture.

In its first season under Gase, Miami posted a 10-6 record in 2016 and participated in the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Last year, the Dolphins went 6-10, and this year’s showing has led to speculation about the coach’s job security.

“I think one of your goals is to, one, make sure your coaches keep their jobs,” Fitzpatrick said, "because that depends on our play, and, two, that they get promoted. When they get promoted, that means they’re doing something right. It’s a business. It is what it is. We’ve just got to keep playing hard. We’ve got one more game. …

"I think there were a lot of things that were out of our control (this season) that kind of didn't go our way. Been a lot of guys get hurt, had a lot of guys go down, some unfortunate things happened. Some things did go our way, but other things didn't."

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.