The Miami Dolphins are preparing to make the 13th selection in the 84th NFL Draft on Thursday night. In the 2018 draft, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier was pleasantly surprised to find Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick still available when Miami’s turn came around in the first round.

“Last year, we didn’t expect Minkah to be there at 11," Grier said.

While Fitzpatrick wasn't an immediate starter for Miami, he was an instant contributor as the Dolphins' nickel back to open his career. He eventually got around to the rest of the Miami secondary.

Fitzpatrick started three of the Dolphins' first eight games, then hardly came off the field in the second half of the season. Of his starts, five came at safety with three apiece at cornerback and nickel back. Fitzpatrick made 80 tackles, intercepted two passes and broke up nine passes in 2018. He returned one of his interceptions 50 yards for a touchdown.

“I look back on last year and just say it was a challenge,” Fitzpatrick said during an appearance on “The Audible with Kim Bokamper.” “We didn’t really know exactly what was going to happen when I got here, if I was going to play safety, corner, nickel or whatever it may be. And I played every single one of those, and it’s not really easy to do that. It was a challenge. It was tough. A lot of it wasn’t really planned out. Somebody may have gotten hurt and I had to just use my ability and the coaches and lean on them to dive into that.

“But I think it definitely prepared me -- it’s not going to get much harder than that. You’re never going to be asked to play a whole different position on a Saturday or a Friday. That’s not going to get much harder than that. A lot of things were thrown at me. It prepared me. I just feel like this year, I’m going to use everything that I learned last year and just apply it.”

During the Dolphins’ voluntary minicamp last week under new coach Brian Flores, Fitzpatrick was asked which he’d like to be this year -- cornerback, nickel back or safety -- but he added a fourth option: “A football player.”

“They don’t even know us as players yet," Fitzpatrick said of the Dolphins’ new coaching staff. "They only have film on us. They haven’t put their hands on us at all for real. Nobody has any idea of where they’re playing or what we’re doing. We don’t know the defense that we’re running. We’re just out there trying to learn the basics and the fundamentals of everything before we get our positions set in stone. And anyways, the defense that we run, everybody has to move around. I don’t think anybody in the secondary is just going to be sitting at one spot.”

To be better prepared for what may lie ahead, Fitzpatrick said he'd dialed in his weight at 204 pounds -- about halfway between his preferred heavier playing weight at safety and lighter playing weight at cornerback.

“I’m sitting in the middle," Fitzpatrick said, “just in case I’ve got to lose weight or gain weight.”

In his short exposure to Flores and new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Fitzpatrick has noticed differences between them and former coach Adam Gase and defensive coordinator Matt Burke.

“The basics and fundamentals of what they want are different," Fitzpatrick said. "It’s like my rookie year all over again, just going back learning the basics and fundamentals.”

Fitzpatrick described Flores as "all-business." Flores came to Miami after running the defense for the New England Patriots, culminating in a 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII last season.

“The first point of emphasis that he had, he said, ‘I promise you we’ll be the best-conditioned team in the NFL,'" Fitzpatrick said. "He’s really emphasized that, and he’s really put that into action. We’ve been running a whole lot just with the strength staff, and even (at the first day of minicamp) we conditioned real hard after practice. He’s all-business. He knows how to win. He knows what it takes to win. He’s about it, and I’m real excited about it.”

While he's working hard now, Fitzpatrick said he had been happy to get a break after the end of the 2018 season.

After helping Alabama defeat Georgia 26-23 in overtime in the CFP championship game on Jan. 8, 2018, Fitzpatrick went right into training for the NFL Scouting Combine, Alabama Pro Day and the NFL Draft, which brought him to Miami for rookie minicamp, OTAs, mandatory minicamp, training camp, the preseason and his first NFL campaign.

“This is the best I’ve felt in a long time," Fitzpatrick said. "We’re going two years straight, all the guys that came straight to the league. We actually had time to actually recover our bodies fully (after the 2018 season). You could say a week is recovery, but it really isn’t. So you have a whole three months to just focus on the little nicks and bruises and getting the little bumps out. It’s real good for your body.”

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