Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick suffered an injury plagued 2023 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, missing a career high seven games.
“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 the team’s official website.
Fitzpatrick went down with a hamstring injury mid-season, missing four games while also missed the last three games of the campaign with an injured knee.
“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.”
The Steelers suffered more than most teams last season with injury losing TJ Watt, Cam Hayward, Cole Holcomb and Kenny Pickett among a list of others.
“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.
Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin still managed to take his team to a 10-7 record.
“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.”
The Buffalo Bills defeated Pittsburgh in the wild card playoff game 31-17.
The Steelers have lost won the Superbowl in 2008 and of they are to have any chance they will need luck on the injury front and a little more quality depth across the park.
