Steelers Minkah Fitzpatrick Defends His Hit To The Knee Of Browns Nick Chubb

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In the wake of Browns running back Nick Chubb’s season-ending knee injury, Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has spoken out for the first time about the controversial hit.

Certain Browns fans have criticized Fitzpatrick’s tackle as dirty because he went low on Chubb while linebacker Cole Holcomb was attempting to bring him down.

Fitzpatrick addressed the play on Thursday, explaining that he made the decision to tackle low as soon as he saw an opportunity to do so.

He characterized football as a high-speed game, and in the heat of the moment, he believed it was the best choice. Fitzpatrick clarified that Holcomb engaged with Chubb after he had committed to the tackle, which led to the unfortunate outcome.

“I’m a guy that is a competitor, that’s going to go out there and play the game,” Fitzpatrick asserted. “I’m chippy, I’m edgy, of course, but I’m not a dirty player. I’m not going to sit here and defend my character. I know the type of player I am. Chubb knows the type of player I am.”

Fitzpatrick emphasized the respect he has for Chubb and their competitive history over the past five years.

He expressed his intention to bring out the best in each other as athletes and stated unequivocally that he would never purposefully injure another player. He regarded the incident as unfortunate and explained the split-second decisions that players must make on the field.

“You make decisions within milliseconds,” Fitzpatrick noted. “You can’t really control what happens after you choose to make your decision. I already chose to go low. Somebody got on his back as I was going low, and what happened, happened; there’s nothing I really would do differently. It’s very unfortunate. Chubb’s a great player. He makes the game a lot better when he’s playing.”

Regarding the suggestion that he should have tackled high, Fitzpatrick responded, “You’ve never tackled Nick Chubb running downhill before because you’re going to get concussed trying to do that.” He stressed that defensive players are entitled to protect themselves as well.