Steelers Preparing to Play Without Minkah Fitzpatrick
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't just add a notch to the loss column in Week 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they lost one of their best defensive playmakers as well in the process.
Star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick went down with a hamstring injury in the first quarter. He was chasing after a Jacksonville receiver when something popped in his leg and made life much harder for the Steelers defense.
“It’s tough because Minkah is one of those guys - he’s not only a guy that you can plug any and everywhere," cornerback Patrick Peterson said. "He’s a guy that communicates through the guys on the back end. So it’s a little different when you have the leader of our secondary, the main communicator back there with us."
Superstar outside linebacker T.J. Watt acknowledged it will be difficult to play without Fitzpatrick moving forward but there will be no excuses. The Steelers can't afford to sulk while coming off a loss while banged up. Their depth has no choice but to step up.
"Any time you lose an All-Pro player, a guy who is a leader in the back and a leader in the defense is a big blow, but it's one that we have to be able to manage," Watt said. "Whether it's with one guy, whether it's with two or three guys, we always preach the next man up mentality. Everybody's in the meetings. Everybody's at practice. It's all about the next man and what he's able to do and fill in that spot."
It's an unfortunate situation, Petersen said, but one that the Steelers have been forced to get used to this season. In fact, they've already spent an extended period of time without Fitzpatrick while he was absent from the early portions of preseason training camp.
The regular season, however, is a different animal and the Steelers are figuring to be shorthanded and on short rest when they face the Tennessee Titans later this week.
"Now, other guys have an opportunity to show what they have and - hate to say this - but another man’s loss could be another man’s treasure," Peterson said. "So whoever’s number is called, hopefully, they can hold up long enough until Minkah can get back.”
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