Minkah Fitzpatrick is back to playing Minkah-ball. Used too often as a strong safety last season and hampered by leg injuries, he’s been healthy and has resumed his free safety role in 2024 thanks to the steady — and occasionally excellent — play from SS DeShon Elliott. The only thing missing is the big plays that usually come along with Fitzpatrick roaming the middle.
Still without a pick since Jan. 1, 2023, the Steelers are confident those plays will come with time. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin spoke with reporters Thursday and, via the PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo, didn’t bat an eye at Fitzpatrick’s lack of splash plays.
“Sometimes it’s not happening right now, but I got full confidence because I know what kind of player Minkah is and the more opportunities that he has and the more time he’s back there that those splash plays will come,” Austin said via a team-provided transcript. “I don’t worry about that. I know how he leads our group in terms of the communication and everything working from back there, and it’s a lot smoother.
“So I think as a unit, we’ve operated really well, really smooth overall, and so the splash will come. I’m not going to get bent out of shape about that at this particular time.”
Fitzpatrick’s last takeaway came to close out the Steelers’ Week 17 win against the Baltimore Ravens in the 2022 season, making a great play on a poor throw by then-Ravens QB Tyler Huntley, a year in which he led the league in interceptions. Since, Fitzpatrick has been a steady and sure tackler but missing the big plays that he was known for throughout his first four years in Pittsburgh.
Last year’s lack of production was understandable. He was asked to play close to the line of scrimmage too consistently while injuries had him shuffling in and out of the lineup, Fitzpatrick making 10 just starts and exiting several of those games early. Health hasn’t been a problem this year. Neither has his positioning. According to our charting, he’s only lined up in the box for one snap this season, excluding goal-line/low-red zone situations. But the splash hasn’t caught up just yet.
That’s partially due to how teams avoid Fitzpatrick. The Steelers have rarely been thrown at down the middle of the field and when they have, it’s sometimes come with trickery. The Denver Broncos hit a big play down the middle in Week 2 but used a Wildcat flip to QB Bo Nix to do so. Per our charting, Minkah Fitzpatrick has been targeted 10 times through the Steelers’ first four games, allowing seven completions for 93 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
His best chance for big plays came last Sunday in the Steelers’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Though not officially credited, he helped force a fumble on Anthony Richardson, a hit that would eventually knock the Colts QB out of the game. Pittsburgh was unable to recover the loose ball. Fitzpatrick also had a chance to make a play on a key third-and-long but gave up the reception and conversion.
Instead, Fitzpatrick’s game against the Colts is known for an erroneous unnecessary roughness penalty that the NFL admitted to Mike Tomlin was the wrong call.
Fitzpatrick will look for his first pick Sunday night against the visiting Dallas Cowboys. QB Dak Prescott and company have taken care of the ball this year, turning it over only three times. That’s the same number as Pittsburgh. Both of Prescott’s interceptions came in an ugly Week 2 loss to the New Orleans Saints, the ninth-year veteran putting up a clean sheet in his other three games.
