Steelers HC Mike Tomlin Doesn't Rule Out Possible Quick Week 10 Return For Star Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick

Pittsburgh Steelers star safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick has lived up to all of the hype since joining the team back in 2019. He's been the secondary's primary playmaker, and without him, the unit loses a lot of big plays. While those big plays haven't come as often in 2023 for the three-time Pro Bowler, he has been asked to play some different roles closer to the line of scrimmage and has done exceptionally well. Unfortunately, he left the Week 8 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a hamstring injury.

Rather quickly, he was ruled out for the remainder of the contest. That was not a good sign and as we know with Diontae Johnson and others, hamstring injuries can linger for awhile. Now a little over a week removed from the injury, Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin remains optimistic about his star safety. In his press conference on Tuesday, Tomlin didn't rule out the chance of Fitzpatrick playing in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers.

"Minkah is improving. We'll see what the week holds for him and see if there is a potential for availability at the latter part of the week," Tomlin said in Tuesday's press conference.

The fact that the team didn't place the safety on IR is a good sign that his injury isn't considered long-term. It seems that he may have avoided a serious hamstring injury, as he will be evaluated throughout the week. As always, his practice availability later in the week will be telling on his chances of playing this weekend. In his absence in Week 9 against the Tennessee Titans, the secondary stepped up in a big way. 

Veteran safeties Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee combined for 11 total tackles and helped fill the void of Fitzpatrick. Steelers Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin was unsure about the team's ability to replace the star safety, but the group performed well, albeit against an average offense. Thankfully, the Steelers aren't facing a great offense in the Packers in Week 10 either.

Elsewhere on the injury front, the Steelers seem to be mostly healthy. Defensive lineman Montravius Adams left the Titans contest with an ankle injury and was unable to return. The team will monitor his progress throughout the week, but Tomlin sounded mostly optimistic on his chances of playing in Week 10. The seventh-year veteran has played a career-high 56% of the team's defensive snaps this year. 

Should The Steelers Be Concerned With Linebacker Depth Now?

\While there are other bumps and bruises from the Titans game, no one else seems to be in jeopardy of missing the upcoming contest against the Packers. Tomlin confirmed that linebacker Cole Holcomb is out for the season, which seemed likely from the moment he was injured on Thursday Night Football. In his absence, Tomlin specifically mentioned Mark Robinson as a guy that will possibly see some more snaps moving forward. 

Still, Tomlin didn't seem too confident in giving the second-year linebacker a ton of snaps. On the season, he has only played four defensive snaps in comparison to 148 reps on special teams. For the remainder of the season, Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts will see a vast majority of the snaps at linebacker. They have proved to be excellent signings so far, and the team will need them even more with Holcomb out now. Moving forward, let's hope the Steelers remain relatively healthy as they aim to make a run at the playoffs.

How do you think the safeties performed in Fitzpatrick's absence in Week 9? With Holcomb out for the season, how should the coaching staff divy up the snap count in the linebacker room? When do you think Fitzpatrick will return to the field? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, yinz!

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