Minkah Fitzpatrick Gets Honest About Taking On The Steelers And Seeing Former Teammates In Week 15

The Pittsburgh Steelers are taking part in a huge game on Monday Night Football in Week 15 as the team will be hosting the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins once looked dead during the 2025 season, but they've put together an impressive winning streak that has them in the hunt for the postseason. The group will need some things to break their way, but their season is not quite over yet, even though that was expected earlier in the year. This is a big game for the Steelers as well as the team is looking to extend, or at least maintain, its lead in the AFC North.

Aside from the obvious playoff implications that this game presents, there are plenty of other storylines surrounding it. There are a bunch of players on both sidelines that will be taking on their former team. The most obvious case of this is Minkah Fitzpatrick returning to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. His trade was unexpected, and it was always thought that there was a little bit of turmoil between the safety and the coaching staff for the Steelers. Fitzpatrick spoke to the media about the upcoming game, and he was not making anything more of the contest due to it being against his former team.

"The only reason why it's a big week this week is because we have a game and we got to win it," Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick did not seem to want to pay any mind to the fact that he was squaring off against his former team. This comes after asking the media not to ask him questions about the Steelers. This could be because he doesn't want to speak poorly on his former organization, or it could be because he does not have great feelings towards Pittsburgh.

Fitzpatrick's time in Pittsburgh was a little odd. He was an All-Pro caliber player for most of his time with the franchise, but his play declined over the last couple of seasons. It was said that he was not being used the way he wanted to be within the defense, and also reportedly had some issues with Head Coach Mike Tomlin when it came to schematics. Tomlin briefly mentioned Fitzpatrick in the opening to his press conference on Tuesday, but he mostly dodged any question that he received about his former player.

Pittsburgh also has some players going up against Miami for the first time since leaving the Dolphins. This is the case for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith, who both came to Pittsburgh in offseason trades. Ramsey was the player directly involved in the trade that sent Fitzpatrick to Miami.

Ramsey had a desire to be traded and he did not want to be in Miami anymore, so there isn't much animosity there as the organization did right by him sending him elsewhere. Smith is a different story. He enjoyed his time in Miami as he was a focal point of the passing game, but the organization would not give him an extension, which he very much deserved. Look for Pittsburgh to be targeting Smith if the offense gets deep in the end zone on Monday night.

Steelers Must Make Appropriate Schematic Changes For Matchup With The Dolphins

Fitzpatrick is a very smart and instinctive football player, and he is the leader of the defense for Miami. He is familiar with Pittsburgh's defense and offense, so the Steelers need to shake things up. The veteran defender could help the offense attack Pittsburgh's defense, and he could also give his defensive unit an edge going up against Pittsburgh.

The Steelers need to keep Fitzpatrick guessing going into this matchup as he can easily flip the game on its head.

What did you think of Fitzpatrick's comments about playing his former team? Let us know in the comments below!

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