Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick experienced a 2023 season unlike any he'd had in his NFL career, dealing with a litany of injuries that knocked him out of a career-high seven games.
Fitzpatrick suffered a hamstring injury that forced him out four games in the middle of the season and he missed the final three regular-season games due to a knee injury. The circumstances tested a different aspect of football for the 27-year-old.
"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 recently told Teresa Varley of the team's official website. "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."
Every team deals with injuries at one point or another during a campaign. For Pittsburgh in 2023, it seemed a weekly occurrence during which main players were out of the lineup. Whether it was Fitzpatrick, T.J. Watt for the playoffs, Cam Heyward (six games missed), Cole Holcomb, Kenny Pickett, etc., Pittsburgh played through a string of injuries.
The remarkable aspect is that despite players like Fitzpatrick missing significant time, Mike Tomlin still led his club to the postseason with a 10-7 record. Given the injury situation, particularly on defense, most teams would have wilted, but Fitzpatrick credited Tomlin with keeping the ship moving forward.
"We had a lot of older guys, veterans step up. We had a lot of younger guys step up," Fitzpatrick said. "We asked a lot of people. It's a telltale sign of the type of team we are. We are a scrappy team that will fight no matter what. We have a lot of selfless dudes who will do a lot of things on and off the field to help. It was no surprise.
"Football is a crazy game. Last year, we had some crazy circumstances. It's a telltale sign of who we are, the type of team Coach T has built, the type of culture Coach T has built. We continue to fight no matter what the circumstances. It's a culture that is hard-nosed. You have a job to do, get it done, no matter how you have to do it."
here main players were out of the lineup. Whether it was Fitzpatrick, T.J. Watt for the playoffs, Cam Heyward (six games missed), Cole Holcomb, Kenny Pickett, etc., Pittsburgh played through a string of injuries.
The remarkable aspect is that despite players like Fitzpatrick missing significant time, Mike Tomlin still led his club to the postseason with a 10-7 record. Given the injury situation, particularly on defense, most teams would have wilted, but Fitzpatrick credited Tomlin with keeping the ship moving forward.
"We had a lot of older guys, veterans step up. We had a lot of younger guys step up," Fitzpatrick said. "We asked a lot of people. It's a telltale sign of the type of team we are. We are a scrappy team that will fight no matter what. We have a lot of selfless dudes who will do a lot of things on and off the field to help. It was no surprise.
"Football is a crazy game. Last year, we had some crazy circumstances. It's a telltale sign of who we are, the type of team Coach T has built, the type of culture Coach T has built. We continue to fight no matter what the circumstances. It's a culture that is hard-nosed. You have a job to do, get it done, no matter how you have to do it."
