The Pittsburgh Steelers could be getting a key piece of their defense back next week against the Arizona Cardinals. Safety Damontae Kazee said after the Steelers’ 16-10 win over that Cincinnati Bengals that safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is coming back ahead of Pittsburgh’s Week 13 matchup, via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“Shoot, we know Minkah comes back this week,” Kazee said, per Batko. “A lot of us ain’t gonna be playing in those spots.”
Fitzpatrick has missed four games after injuring his groin during Pittsburgh’s Week Eight loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Originally, Kazee and Keanu Neal filled in at safety, but Neal suffered an injury at the end of Pittsburgh’s Week 10 win over the Green Bay Packers, leading Trenton Thompson to step in.
Thompson has started Pittsburgh’s last two games and had an interception against the Bengals today. While Thompson has looked good, Fitzpatrick is one of the backbones of Pittsburgh’s defense and one of the best safeties in the league. His return is going to help a ton from a communication aspect in addition to the playmaking that Fitzpatrick provides.
Fitzpatrick wasn’t placed on IR after his injury, but he’s yet to practice since suffering it. He was a DNP all week in practice ahead of Week 12, so we’ll see if he’s able to get on the practice field Wednesday. If he does, there’s a good chance that we do see Fitzpatrick on Sunday.
With the Steelers at 7-4 and upcoming games against Arizona and the New England Patriots, Fitzpatrick is potentially returning at an ideal time for the Steelers, who should win each of their next two games. The return of Fitzpatrick is going to boost those chances, especially if he’s back at full strength.
The only question regarding Fitzpatrick’s return is what type of role Thompson might have. Mike Tomlin said he would pound the table for Thompson if he got an interception this week, which he did. We’ll find out whether he plays the third safety role that Neal did earlier this season or if he’s mostly relegated to special teams.
Fitzpatrick’s anticipated return comes on the heels of Pittsburgh allowing its opponent to just one touchdown for the second week in a row. It’s a unit playing good football, and it will only be better with Fitzpatrick in the fold.
