The long-awaited return of Minkah Fitzpatrick is here. He told the media after practice on Friday that he will be playing against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The Steelers have sustained multiple injuries in the secondary, particularly at the safety position. Fitzpatrick was out with a hamstring injury the last four games, getting injured in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Keanu Neal and Elijah Riley got sent to IR while he was gone. This has forced guys like Trenton Thompson into the fold and made it necessary to move veteran CB Patrick Peterson around more both at free safety and closer to the line of scrimmage as a box safety. Fitzpatrick was leading the team in tackles prior to his injury with 54.
Peterson spoke to the media after practice on Friday to discuss Fitzpatrick’s return and what that could mean for his role over the last month of the season.
“My role is going to be pretty much the same,” Peterson said in a video posted by TribLIVE’s Chris Adamski on X. “Playing the nickel, the penny, maybe safety a little bit here and there. It’s awesome to get Minkah back into the lineup because he means so much to not only the secondary but to this defense. By getting guys lined up, the playmaking ability, the fire that he brings each and every play. So, we are so extremely blessed to get Minkah back at this time of the year because like we talked about earlier, we really feel like we’re trending in the right direction.”
Cameron Heyward said yesterday that the injuries have provided a great opportunity to build depth and get more guys into the rotation. There are only so many practice reps to go around, and practice only gets you so far for preparation for a live game. Now the Steelers have Thompson ready to play meaningful snaps and Peterson now has more exposure to moving around the defense. This will allow a bunch of different looks from the Steelers and keep opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks on their toes.
In the three games prior to his injury, for example, Fitzpatrick played 53 snaps in the box, 80 at free safety, and 70 in the slot. He was a true chess piece that offenses had to account for. With Neal and Riley out, some of the defense’s ability to move him around could have been diminished, but they gave meaningful work to Peterson and Thompson, so the Steelers should be able to continue using different looks in sub-package football. Even with Fitzpatrick out, Pittsburgh’s defense has allowed just 58 points over its last four games, or just 14.5 points per game.
The unit has found a way to trend in the right direction despite all the injuries, so gaining back an All-Pro talent like Fitzpatrick could mean very good things ahead, both for the defense and the team in general.
