It was a less than ideal season for Pittsburgh Steelers star Minkah Fitzpatrick who was dealt with a bad hand in term of injuries as he only played in 10 games. The safety spoke with Teresa Varley of the Steelers website to talk about how he felt emotionally throughout the duration of last season as he acknowledged injuries are “part of the game.”
“It’s part of the game. It was my first year and hopefully my last year where I’ve sat a significant amount of time,” Fitzpatrick said. “I just tried to embrace it. I tried to still lean from that position, that stance. Even though I wasn’t playing, there were still ways I was trying to get better, whether it be on the field or off the field. I just had to embrace it. It’s part of the game, part of our job.”
Fitzpatrick talks being on the sidelines with an injury
Fitzpatrick went through his feelings as they were sporadic where some days “were easy” and at other times, especially game days “were definitely tough.” However he expressed how he “tried to stay engaged” in not just interacting with coaches and teammates to better the Steelers, but in “paying attention to what is going on around me.”
“I tried to really stay engaged, not in a sense of being vocal or constantly communicating. But being where my feet are,” Fitzpatrick said. “Paying attention to what is going on around me, paying attention to the little things, paying attention to what people in the locker room, in this building say. What they are saying, what they are communicating. Whether it's subtly or in your face, I was trying to take heed of everything that was going on and trying to correct some things that were being talked about. I had the necessary conversations.”
Fitzpatrick talks about what he needed to work on for next season
Despite the struggles, he was selected to his fourth Pro Bowl as he finished with 64 total tackles and three passes deflected. Since being drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the first round in 2018 and traded to the Steelers, he has been selected to three NFL All-Pro first teams.
“The reason I recognized I needed to work on it was because I had the opportunity to be still and really see what was going on. When you are in the mix of it, you are game planning and scheming, you can lose sight of all the little details, or you become nose blind to what is going on around you,” Fitzpatrick continued. “The fact that I had time to be aware of what was going on is something I want to implement more. I want to make time to be where my feet are. Listen to more of what is going on in the locker room. Listen to what is going on upstairs. It’s something I want to apply moving forward.”
As Fitzpatrick said before, the ultimate goal for him next season is to stay healthy and lead the Steelers and the defense to new heights come fall of 2024. Pittsburgh finished with a 10-7 record which was good for third in the AFC North as their season finished losing to the Buffalo Bills in the wild card round of the NFL Playoffs.
Follow Us
Subscribe