Can things get any worse? After a stinker of a game against the Detroit Lions, in which the Pittsburgh Steelers tied 16-16 without franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at the helm, Minkah Fitzpatrick may join Big Ben on the list of inactives this upcoming week.

According to Kimberley A. Martin on Twitter, Fitzpatrick tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, and faces an uphill battle towards playing this week.

It's a huge blow to the Steelers secondary, as Fitzpatrick has been its lynchpin, both as a leader and a performer on the field, ever since he joined the team back in 2018. His resume since then includes two selections to the AP All-Pro First Team.

As for Ben Roethlisberger, he was forced out of action back in Week 10 due to testing positive for COVID-19. He actually self-reported symptoms before being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, which seemingly helped him to receive less backlash than his counterpart Aaron Rodgers, who received scrutiny for the fallout of his positive COVID test.

As Pittsburgh gears up for a primetime showdown on Sunday Night Football against the Los Angeles Chargers this week, they're going to need as many healthy bodies as possible if they want to catch a win this week and stay in contention in the loaded AFC North. The only reason that the Steelers were able to even tie this past week's game was because their secondary did a fantastic job shutting down Lions pass catchers throughout all four quarters and the overtime period.

If Ben or Fitzpatrick end up missing extended time, it would continue the injury bug pattern that the Steelers have faced all year. JuJu Smith-Schuster is out for the season, Chase Claypool and Dionte Johnson have been off and on the injury report, and now the offensive and defensive team leaders have uncertain statuses.

Hopefully, for the sake of Sunday Night Football, and, more importantly, the Steelers, Big Ben and Minkah Fitzpatrick heal up soon.