PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It wasn’t anything that we’ve really seen during his time in Pittsburgh, the questioning of Minkah Fitzpatrick. Wondering about his level of play. Is he to blame for recent mistakes? Two things happened to confirm and deny those concerns.
The confirmation came from peers, coaches and even fans as Minkah was voted to his fifth career Pro Bowl in seven seasons. As he was calling it a huge honor to be selected again, he admitted he was not expecting the recognition.
“Yeah, to be honest and keep it real,” Fitzpatrick said. “It hasn’t been my splashiest year. I’ve been back in the post, doing my job for the most part. I was surprised, but honored.”
He got his first interception since the 2022 season picking off Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. He had six interceptions in 2022 to lead the league. He also had 11 passes defended that season to only four this year. His tackle total is similar to previous seasons, but 31 below his career-high in 2021.
Minkah admitted along with not being his splashiest, it hasn’t been his best year. The 28-year-old said he thinks, though, he’s played a lot of good football. He hasn’t had the opportunity to roam and make those plays this season. Fitzpatrick’s role is different with this defense.
“It’s part of doing your job,” Fitzpatrick said. “Not everyone’s job is going to be the most fun. I’m happy to be out there and happy to be a part of the Steelers defense.”
He said part of the issues he and the team are facing center around their opponents being opportunistic. What he means by that are as teams are preparing for the Steelers they’ve noticed the issues the team is having with motion, stacks and bunches. So as opponents are scouting they are noting those Steelers problems and exploiting them.
This team spent from the day after its last game on Christmas to its last day of practice on Thursday thinking, working and talking about the issues.
Much has been said about the open conversations players are having which really came to public light after the Chiefs game. Minkah said they are not running from those opinions, rather confronting the issues.
“When you have a lot of guys in the room that care about something, we are not all in agreeance, there is going to be conflict,” Fitzpatrick said. “There is going to be tension. Everybody has a strong personality, cares a lot and gives a lot to this team and this organization. We have a lot of the guys in the room that move that way and we aren’t seeing the success that we want to see, there is going to be tension.”
“The important thing is after you have those confrontations is to ask each other, what are we going to do differently?”
A former Steelers team MVP, Fitzpatrick said they have worked all week to get on the same page and making sure they see the game the same way. They have emphasized communication, with hand and verbal signals. Just making sure they are all pointing in the same direction.
What tells him it will be better?
“There’s not a lot of people running open,” Fitzpatrick said. “We haven’t had to run back a whole lot of plays, maybe only one since Wednesday. We’ve been doing a lot of extra work on the side while the offense is on the field working on that communication and those adjustments.”
Minkah said he hasn’t played his best, neither has the defense as a whole. He believes they’ve got a chance to show more of what we saw in the first 13 games on Saturday.