Minkah Fitzpatrick is eager to get back to “Minkah ball”, but he needs his teammates’ help to do it. The Pittsburgh Steelers need to have a cohesive unit in which everyone is doing their jobs. They need to build a unit with an implicit sense of trust that affords Fitzpatrick the freedom to make plays.
And the best way Fitzpatrick knows how to do that is by setting an example. Since he first got here, his work ethic has always paced the locker room. Even T.J. Watt said he had to step up his note-taking game after watching Fitzpatrick in the classroom.
“I’m not a dude that’s gonna pull people in a headlock to do extra work, but a lot of young guys are definitely making an effort to come and do what I’m doing, to do what DeShon [Elliott] is doing, to do what D-Jack [Donte Jackson] is doing”, Fitzpatrick said, via the team’s website, about his work with his younger teammates after practice.
“That’s something that I see as very valuable, something that I value in young dudes”, he added. “That’s something that I tried to do when I was that age. I think it’s very important to plant the seed and show them how to be a professional”.
Minkah Fitzpatrick seemed to know how to be a professional coming out of the womb. Or at least he knew how to be a professional coming out of Alabama under Nick Saban. That has served him well since arriving in the NFL. He is able to fall back on his knowledge and wisdom to allow his natural abilities to impact the game.
It’s not at all dissimilar to Troy Polamalu, who was one of the smartest players on the field every week. Smartest, and more importantly, most diligent, because he studied everything about his opponents. That is how Fitzpatrick approaches the game, and his teammates are free to learn from his example.
Despite his veteran status, he still values being around the team now. “I think it’s important when you have a lot of new faces in the building, and this year we have a lot of new faces, not just players but staff”, Fitzpatrick said.
In the secondary alone, the Steelers added the aforementioned DeShon Elliott and Donte Jackson, two starters. They parted with Keanu Neal, Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, Chandon Sullivan, and James Pierre as well. Members of the coaching staff, including in the secondary, have shifted, so there is always something to work on.
“You want to start forming relationships early to make sure everybody’s on the same page”, Fitzpatrick said. “If I came in now and they were teaching stuff that wasn’t exactly what I was taught, I’d be playing catch up. I’m not big on doing that. I like being on the same page”.
That’s not a bad idea considering he has hardly worked with most of those around him. Coincidentally, the newest member of the team is the one he is most experienced with, Cameron Sutton. He has never played with Elliott and Jackson before. He was even injured for much of Joey Porter Jr.’s playing time a year ago, so that’s something to grow.
