Category: Minkah Fitzpatrick

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick expected to wear the green dot vs. Patriots

If Elandon Roberts can’t play versus the Patriots tonight, Minkah Fitzpatrick will wear the green dot.

Communication is key on both sides of the ball, which was lacking once Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts went down with a groin injury last week.

Once Roberts was ruled out, Mykal Walker, signed to the practice squad on Oct. 30, had lead critical responsibilities with the green dot and communication dropped off. To combat this, if Roberts (questionable on injury report) can’t go, the green dot will be given to Minkah Fitzpatrick.

“If Elandon is not the guy, it would probably be Minkah from a hierarchy of green dots, if you will,” Tomlin said in his weekly Q&A session with Bob Labriola of Steelers.com.

Fitzpatrick is dealing with an issue of his own but has no injury designation going into tonight’s game. He played with a broken hand against the Arizona Cardinals.

Typically, an inside linebacker relays plays from the coaches to the rest of the defense. But given the mess Pittsburgh has at the position that once was one of their best depth-wise, it’s best a veteran takes over.

It’s likely Roberts won’t play. There’s no sense in risking further injury at a position of need as the Steelers attempt to make a playoff run.

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Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick played with broken hand vs. Cardinals

The only thing that kept Minkah Fitzpatrick going on Sunday was pure adrenaline.

In his first game back in four weeks, Minkah Fitzpatrick suffered another serious injury — only he didn’t notice at first.

Midway through the second quarter, Fitzpatrick realized he had broken his left hand. He estimates the injury was sustained on a tackle but didn’t notice until a few plays later when he tried to punch out a ball.

“Not too much,” Fitzpatrick told ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on how it affected his play. “They cast me up during one of the delays. I couldn’t grab with it, but I was able to still play and didn’t miss a play.”

Fitzpatrick is certain he’ll be out there four days from now when the Steelers host the 2-10 New England Patriots on “Thursday Night Football.”

“I’ll be fine. Wrap it up. Club it up.”

Prior to his hamstring injury, Fitzpatrick had recorded 54 total tackles in seven games. He added seven more in the loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin ‘leaving the light on’ for Minkah Fitzpatrick to return vs. Cardinals

Minkah Fitzpatrick could return for Pittsburgh’s Week 13 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick has missed a month with a hamstring injury suffered in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8.

As he often does with injured players making progress, Mike Tomlin stated in his Tuesday press conference that he’s “leaving the light on” for Fitzpatrick’s return against the Arizona Cardinals this week.

The Steelers are set to practice tomorrow, and they’ll see what the quality of Fitzpatrick’s reps is, but it’s likely we won’t know for sure until Friday whether he’ll suit up.

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Steelers WR Diontae Johnson sounds off on Minkah Fitzpatrick feud: ‘Don’t get it twisted’

A scuffle between Diontae Johnson and Minkah Fitzpatrick that managed to stay under wraps all week stirred things up Saturday night thanks to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 

A scuffle between Diontae Johnson and Minkah Fitzpatrick that managed to stay under wraps all week stirred things up Saturday night thanks to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Johnson’s frustration started on the sideline with Mike Tomlin and spilled into the locker room following the Steelers’ Week 11 loss to the Browns. Things got heated between Johnson and Fitzpatrick, and it took T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward to cool it down.

Speaking about it after the win, Johnson brushed it off as a typical occurrence between teammates.

“Y’all are outside looking in… that’s my brother out there,” Johnson told Steelers media. “Players are gonna be players, we’re passionate about the game, everybody wanna win. Y’all can’t look at it as, oh, we had an all-out brawl or whatever. It ain’t that. Don’t get it twisted. Players on each and every team talk junk to each other. We squashed it. We won the game, that’s all that matters.”

The media is great at making something out of nothing. That’s what appears happened here. Nothing to see… move along now.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin gets testy about Minkah Fitzpatrick’s potential setback

Minkah Fitzpatrick is at risk of missing his fifth consecutive game when the Steelers travel to Cincinnati this weekend. 

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is at risk of missing his fourth consecutive game when the team travels to Cincinnati this weekend.

Mike Tomlin presented a recycled comment on the availability of Fitzpatrick, who he said is working hard to be a component of this week’s plan. “We get later in the week, we’ll let the amount of that participation and the quality of it potentially be our guide in terms of their availability,” Tomlin said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Two weeks ago — leading up to the Week 10 Green Bay Packers matchup — Tomlin had said Fitzpatrick was improving. It offered a glimmer of hope that he could return to help defend Jordan Love and Company. Instead, he’s remained sidelined and has yet to practice since injuring his hamstring in their Week 8 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Tomlin seemed irritated when pressed as to whether Fitzpatrick experienced a setback. “Do I seem less optimistic now? No, there’s no loss of optimism.”

Pittsburgh is thin at safety with Keanu Neal and Elijah Riley recently going on injured reserve.

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When will Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick be back?

The Steelers could really use him for what’s ahead — back-to-back divisional matchups — but it might not be in the cards.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been without their veteran secondary defender, Minkah Fitzpatrick, for the last two games.

The Steelers could really use him for what’s ahead — back-to-back divisional matchups — but it might not be in the cards.

As usual, with injuries this early in the week before they’ve even practiced, Fitzpatrick’s availability and quality of work this week will determine his game status for Sunday’s brawl with the Cleveland Browns.

Fitzpatrick went down with a hamstring injury in the Jacksonville Jaguars game.

Former Steelers tackle Chris Hoke believes the team will take a cautious approach. “Unless they fall apart in these next two games, they’re going to slow play this,” he said on the KDKA Nightly Sports Call after the Packers win.

Hamstrings are tricky injuries that can easily be re-aggravated, as seen with Pat Freiermuth, especially in the cold months of the season.

“They want Minkah to be around in December and January, rolling into the playoffs. You’re not going to force him into that lineup right now when he can have an opportunity to reinjure that hamstring. You can see him maybe holding out a bit longer.”

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin rules Minkah Fitzpatrick OUT vs. Titans

The Steelers will be without Minkah Fitzpatrick vs. Titans on TNF.

The timing of the short week leading up to the Pittsburgh Steelers-Tennessee Titans game is unfortunate as two key players, Kenny Pickett (ribs) and Minkah Fitzpatrick (hamstring), were injured in their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Given the need to cram player preparation into four days, Mike Tomlin has already ruled Fitzpatrick out for Thursday Night Football.

Tomlin spoke to the significance of losing a player of his caliber during his weekly press conference. “It’s a multi-man job, not a one-man job when you’re talking about replacing a playmaker, whether playmaking ability or his communication ability.”

He expects veterans like Miles Killebrew, Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal to lessen the impact of Fitzpatrick’s absence.

As for Pickett, Tomlin said that the team is taking to the practice field on Wednesday, and they’ll see where he stands at that point. Mitch Trubisky will start if Pickett can’t go.

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T.J. Watt responds to Minkah Fitzpatrick’s roughing the passer call

Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt responded to the roughing the passer penalty imposed after Minkah Fitzpatrick sacked Raiders’ Jimmy Garoppolo.

In what could’ve been the difference in the Raiders game, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was flagged for a ridiculous red zone roughing the passer penalty midway through the fourth quarter. And, once again, Fitzpatrick is under a microscope for a controversial hit.

The call gave Las Vegas a fresh set of downs and led directly to a touchdown moments later.

When Fitzpatrick prompted the referees for an explanation, they told him it was a helmet-to-helmet hit after “he ducked and I hit him in his head.” Video replay clearly shows Fitzpatrick’s helmet did not make contact with the quarterback’s helmet.

“I don’t even know what to say about that,” T.J. Watt told Steelers media after the game.

Rules analyst Terry McAulay disagreed with the call, saying on the broadcast there was no forcible contact to the head or neck area of Jimmy Garoppolo.

According to Steelers Now, crew chief Tra Blake refs lead the NFL in roughing-the-passer penalties in 2023.

Fitzpatrick has every right to be upset, visible after the call and during his postgame interview. It was a solid play that could’ve kept the Raiders from putting six points on the board. Thankfully it didn’t cost them the game.

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Browns DE Myles Garrett speaks out on Minkah Fitzpatrick’s Nick Chubb tackle

While Browns fans are obsessed with calling Minkah Fitzpatrick a “dirty” player, Myles Garrett sees it differently.

While Cleveland Browns fans are up in arms, calling Minkah Fitzpatrick a “dirty” player, their star defender said it was a textbook tackle.

In speaking with the Cleveland media on Friday, defensive end Myles Garrett stood up for his counterpart. “He was playing the game how it was supposed to be played. It was very unfortunate what happened — Nick [Chubb] getting held up, just planting his foot, the hit and all that. It’s something that’s very common around the league.

It’s all part of the game, and something Garrett said that if he were in Fitzpatrick’s shoes, he would’ve done the same thing. “We’re not going to do anything illegal. We’re just going to go after the ball, hit his thigh board, try to take his legs out. Keep the guy safe and healthy, but we’re gonna do our best to chop him down.”

Chubb is sidelined for the season with a mess in his knee, the same he severely injured at Georgia in 2015. As anticipated after the tackle, initial tests confirmed the injury, but the extent remains speculative. CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson reported on Tuesday that sources told her the injury includes his meniscus and could possibly require multiple surgeries.

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Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick defends ‘not dirty’ hit on Browns’ Nick Chubb

Pittsburgh Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick broke his silence on his involvement in the grisly injury to Browns RB Nick Chubb.

The most important job of a defender is to stop the offense from getting into the end zone, thus putting points on the board. However one has to do that, he will. Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick did his job. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of Browns running back Nick Chubb’s season, but he won’t apologize. Nor should he.

He did, however, defend his character in saying that he’s not a dirty player, something he’s been accused of ad nauseam since before Chubb’s exit Monday night. “I’m chippy, I’m edgy, of course, but I’m not a dirty player,” he told Steelers media on Thursday. “I know what type of player I am. Chubb knows what kind of player I am. I love competing against him. He brings out the best in me, and I bring out the best in him. No chance that I would ever try to purposely injure anybody.”

It’s ridiculous to say that Fitzpatrick shouldn’t have tackled him low; that’s the only way to get a player of his athleticism and strength down. Chubb would’ve only dragged him into the end zone if he’d done it any other way. Perhaps Chubb shouldn’t have planted his foot the way he did. Yes, that’s equally as ridiculous.

There’s no getting around what was done and not having Chubb walk right into the end zone on the play in question. “If I tackle a guy like Chubb high, he’s running full speed downhill, and I’m stationary, I’m going to get ran over, and I’m going to get concussed. I know it’s an offensive game, and people want to see points, but defensive players are people, too.”

Fitzpatrick also left the game for the hospital after suffering a chest injury. Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that it was merely a precautionary measure. He’s good to go for Pittsburgh’s Week 3 game in Vegas versus the Raiders.

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