Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick critiques teammates after loss to Patriots: ‘Look in the mirror’
Following a 21-18 loss to the New England Patriots on Thursday, All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was candid about what’s going wrong for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As the 27-year-old responded to a question about the mindset of the locker room and his feelings after the game, he called out his teammates.
Fitzpatrick joined the league as a first-round pick out of Alabama in 2018. The veteran is considered a leader of the team, which has now lost two consecutive home games to seemingly less competitive teams in the Arizona Cardinals and Patriots. Both clubs have 3-10 records this season, while the Steelers were 7-4 before this skid.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is credited for keeping the team in playoff contention every year since 2007, but Fitzpatrick’s comments indicate that he thinks members of the roster are taking the wins for granted.
For Fitzpatrick, it’s not about pointing fingers. He said he wants the team to take accountability.
The Steelers were already playing worse than their record suggested, but the team’s recent losses present new lows. They trailed by at least 18 points in each of their past two games, marking the first time since 2013 that Pittsburgh has been so far behind in back-to-back matchups.
At first glance, a key issue seems to lie in the locker room. While Tomlin dismissed George Pickens’ frustrations on the field as a “non-issue,” the wideout proved not to be the only exasperated Steeler.
Weeks later, running back Najee Harris vented about the offense, saying, “There’s a lot of stuff that goes around that you guys don’t see. I’m at a point where I’m just tired of this s***.” The team fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada days later.
But the issues clearly didn’t stop there. Fitzpatrick reportedly got into heated exchange with teammate Diontae Johnson after a loss to the Cleveland Browns. Shortly after that, Johnson was forced to address his visible lack of effort during a win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
It’s unclear what role Tomlin plays in the team’s dysfunction, but he seems confident through it all.