For Pittsburgh Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick, it’s uh, it’s been a while. The three-time All-Pro has not intercepted a pass now in 20 games, the longest stretch of his career. Though he went 15 games without an interception once, he had multiple picks in each of the seasons it spanned.
His last interception came on New Year’s Day in 2023, so it’s been nearly two years. Unfortunately, he knows there is only so much he can do about it. While his teammates are taking the ball away, Fitzpatrick understands he can’t break assignment and rove.
“There’s not much I can really do,”, he told Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about his lack of interceptions. “I can’t tell quarterbacks to throw at me. I can’t abandon my zone to go make a play because of the position that I play”.
A 2018 first-round pick, Minkah Fitzpatrick came to the Steelers via trade two games into the 2019 season. Since then, he has been an All-Pro almost annually. An injury-plagued 2023 season got him off his game, but the splash plays have not returned in 2024.
In his first season with the Steelers, Fitzpatrick intercepted five passes and recovered two fumbles, forcing two, scoring two touchdowns. The following season, he intercepted four more passes with a forced fumble and recovery, scoring one touchdown. As recently as 2022, he led the league with six interceptions, but since then, he hasn’t taken the ball away. In fact, he has rarely come close.
“It’s not like opportunities have been coming. I’ve been missing the opportunities’, Batko quotes Fitzpatrick as saying. Of course, he said over a year ago that he hadn’t been missing opportunities. “I think there’s some things I could do — take more calculated risks to go get the ball”.
This wasn’t the plan, though. Fitzpatrick talked this offseason about getting back to playing “Minkah ball” in 2024, which included the splash plays that were absent the previous year. While he has typically played well this season, the ball rarely comes his way. He has just two passes defensed.
The Steelers had to use Fitzpatrick in the box a lot last season due to injuries at linebacker. This year, he has hardly played there. For the most part, they have been able to leave him where they think he’s best, but the big plays haven’t yet returned.
That doesn’t mean they won’t, of course. In 2021, Fitzpatrick didn’t pick off a pass over the first nine games, and then he nabbed one in two consecutive games. He is certainly due for one—the only problem is Lamar Jackson doesn’t throw interceptions.
On the most fundamental level, Minkah Fitzpatrick is doing his job nine times out of 10. The problem is more optical, from an outsider’s perspective. The stark reality is the Steelers are paying him a salary reflective of splash plays he is not delivering. That doesn’t mean they’re going to consider trading him any time soon. But you know everyone in that building wants to see “Minkah ball” again, Fitzpatrick foremost among them.
