The NFL season kicks off in a little over a month and all 32 teams have begun training camp. One interesting story line of the preseason so far was the absence of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick from training camp. Fitzpatrick appeared at the first two practices of Steelers camp, but was then absent for around a week before making his return on Saturday.

Fitzpatrick appeared to be very limited in his first two practices, mostly just watching drills and scrimmages. When he returned to Steelers camp on Saturday, he spoke to the press and gave some insight to his situation.

“It’s good to get back to it,” Fitzpatrick told reporters according to an article from triblive.com. “Even if it’s only a few days, you definitely realize how much you love the game, how much you care about the game, but obviously you want to be there for family and for your people. It’s good to be back.”

Not too many details were given as to why Minkah Fitzpatrick was gone, but it was made clear that it was not due to injury, and was deemed an excused leave of absence.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was the one who made it clear that it was excused, and he also spoke to the media regarding the situation.

“He’s back,” Tomlin said about Fitzpatrick. “And in a short period of time we will see him up and running at full capacity, I am sure.”

We'll see how quickly Fitzpatrick can return to playing at full capacity. The Steelers have their first preseason game on August 11th against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.