About 5 1/2 months after his shocking trade by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minkah Fitzpatrick will soon be back in Acrisure Stadium.

Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins play at the Steelers on “Monday Night Football.” In a trade announced June 30 — after all of spring practice, organized team activities and minicamp — Fitzpatrick was sent to the Dolphins in exchange for defensive back Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith (the teams also exchanged late-round draft picks).

In 13 games for his new/old team — Fitzpatrick played a season-plus for Miami in 2018-19 before a trade to the Steelers — Fitzpatrick has 76 tackles, an interception, two fumble recoveries and six passes defensed.

“Minkah has been significant in (playing different positions),” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’s been playing nickel for them, and they’ve got more depth certainly at safety than at corner. Minkah’s versatility has been an asset to them.

“He’s done an awesome job as a guy that plays closer to the line of scrimmage in the nickel position, a guy that blitzes. Certainly, in base, he plays free safety and is a hub of communication and center fielder for them back there.”

Acquired for a 2020 first-round pick during September 2019, Fitzpatrick was a three-time first-team AP NFL All-Pro for the Steelers. He had 18 interceptions, four return touchdowns and six forced fumbles with the team.

WRs help

With each making his Steelers debut this past Sunday, Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdes-Scantling combined for one catch for 4 yards during a victory at the Baltimore Ravens.

But a case can be made that it is not a coincidence that Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (284 passing yards) and WR1 DK Metcalf (7 catches, 148 yards) had arguably their respective best games of the season.

“You know, just veteran guys, been-there-done-that guys,” Tomlin said of the 36-year-old Thielen and 32-year-old Valdes-Scantling. “The road gets narrow in December, and it’s good to have those guys in the fold, guys that have experience in rising up in those moments.

“Certainly, statistics might not bear it out, but I thought they were an asset to us, and it’s reasonable to expect that to improve and increase as we continue.”

Midweek day off

The Steelers have a rare idle Wednesday from practice, at least for weeks in which they are not playing on Thursday night. Tomlin elected to give players a day of rest in lieu of a “bonus” day of practice. The Steelers instead met for meetings Monday.

“We just deemed it appropriate to give ourselves another additional 24 hours of recovery this week,” Tomlin said, “and so that’s why we’ve taken the approach that we’ve taken this week. Thursday will be like a normal in-season Wednesday and then we’ll proceeded from there.

“We’ll give guys some additional time to rest and recuperate and be able to put their hand in the pile in terms of participating in the process of the game readiness, and certainly it’s important this time of year that we have that.”

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