Trade for Fitzpatrick amps up Steelers
PITTSBURGH — Soon after the Steelers announced that Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the season with an elbow injury, news broke that the Steelers traded next year’s first-round pick — something they hadn’t done since 1966 — for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
It shocked media, for certain, and no doubt shocked fans. It shocked the players, too.
“Al (Villanueva) texted me and said, ‘Bro, it’s happening,'” said Ramon Foster. “I’m like what’s happening? He told me, and then I said, ‘Wow! Are you kidding me?'”
Mike Tomlin denied that he was sending a message to the team, but even accidentally the message was clear:
Even though the Steelers received a crippling blow by losing their franchise quarterback, the team is not giving up.
“That move said a lot,” Foster said. “I think they know that we do have a legit shot of being a really good team still. Also, you look at it historically and we never have done this, so that says a lot about what we’re trying to do.”
Soon thereafter, Foster received two more texts from friends who’ve played with Fitzpatrick with either the Miami Dolphins or the University of Alabama. Foster paraphrased those texts this way:
“It was like, ‘This dude is awesome. You’re going to love him. He’s great for you guys,'” Foster said. “We also have the same agent, and so he knows, and he’s been like ‘This kid loves football. This kid wants to be around a locker room like yours.’ And just watching him today at practice, you could see it. It’s like he’s rejuvenated too, so it’ll be cool.”
The rejuvenated Steelers took the practice field for the first time Wednesday with Fitzpatrick at free safety and Mason Rudolph at quarterback. It was an upbeat practice driven by an upbeat coach and they all were driven by another message:
“One win first,” Foster said. “Stack one. Complete our plays. Make our plays. Be who we said we were going to be. That’s what Coach has been emphasizing to us, like, ‘You guys complain about the run game, well stay on the damn field on third down.’ That’s how he’s been approaching us, like he’s telling us ‘Hey, we’re laying it out for you guys. We’re giving you the answers to the test. Mark the right answer. If you’re supposed to make a play, make that damn play and then we can roll.’
“So right now we’re bouncing back and forth and trying to establish a lot of things instead of using a fine-tooth comb on one thing right now. That’s how Coach’s approach is to us right now.”
That’s exactly how it’s been for Fitzpatrick these past 48 hours. He wanted out of Miami, was traded to the Steelers for a first-round pick and some swaps of late-round picks the next couple of years, and he reported to the practice facility on Tuesday. He then went through “four, five hours just going over film with coaches breaking stuff down,” said Fitzpatrick.
Known as a tireless worker who loves the film room, the 6-0, 204-pound safety from Alabama was a favorite of Nick Saban’s. The Alabaman coach once called Fitzpatrick the best leader he’s ever coached.
When asked why Saban was so enamored with him, the soft-spoken Fitzpatrick seemed embarrassed.
“I just did my job,” he said. “I stayed out of trouble off the field. I made sure I was doing everything I could to maximize myself as a player, and I think he appreciated that.”
Fitzpatrick was the primary defensive playmaker for two national championship teams and became the 11th pick of the 2018 draft. The Dolphins moved him around as a rookie, but this year wanted him to play strong safety. Fitzpatrick balked at the idea because he’s too slight to play in the box — a la Mark Barron, a former Alabama strong safety who’s now a 230-pound inside linebacker with the Steelers.
The Steelers’ current strong safety, Terrell Edmunds, weighs 217 pounds.
And when the Dolphins made it clear that they’re more interested in landing a franchise quarterback next April than chasing a Lombardi next February, Fitzpatrick asked to be traded.
“I’m not going to talk too much about Miami,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m here in Pittsburgh, so I’m excited about being here and that’s my focus.”
And so he focused all day Tuesday and Wednesday on understanding his new system. The 22-year-old was asked how long it will take him to grasp it.
“It won’t take too long,” he said. “I’ve just got to learn ways to simplify the game so I can just go out there and play fast. A lot of it is just word association. Some of the words mean the same thing as they did in Miami and Alabama, but some don’t. Green might mean something else here but red means the same thing. It’s just getting it all together.”
“He was getting comfortable with us out there,” Edmunds said after Wednesday’s practice. “The first day he really didn’t have many mistakes, if any. He was just out there playing ball.”
Barron owns his own pair of championship rings from Alabama, so he may not have appreciated any message — accidental or otherwise — that the trade for Fitzpatrick represents.
“Who said we can’t win it?” Barron asked. “My mind doesn’t go to that. I mean, regardless of whatever the circumstance is I’m not a give-up type of guy. I’m going to fight to the end. I’m trying to win every time we step on the field, and I feel like that’s the energy in this room, too. As you can see, we’re still trying to get things in here to help boost the team. I don’t sense a give-up mentality around here.”
Not from the front office, which made this bold move. It sent a palpable wave of enthusiasm throughout the team.
“We are enthusiastic, in a sense,” said Foster. “And absolutely no slight to Seven (Roethlisberger). No, sir. It’s just that it’s new ground for everybody, and everybody’s like ‘Let’s see. Let’s go.’
“There’s the sense of uncertainty that gets you a little amped up, gets you jittery a little bit, and there’s just the sense of ‘get one.’ Get one when they say we can’t win on the West Coast. Get one on a team that’s 2-0. Get one because you lost your star quarterback.
“Just don’t take that as a slight to Seven. Never, never, never. That guy’s buttered a lot of people’s bread around here. So, never that. But, yeah, you have to be enthusiastic about all the stuff going on here. We just got a former first-rounder. We’ve got a young quarterback who’s enthusiastic. It’s like ‘Hey, the answers are there. You guys just need to pencil in the right one.'”
NOTES — Paxton Lynch, the 6-foot-7 quarterback who washed out as Denver’s first-round pick in 2016, is wearing No. 5 on the practice squad. … Sitting out Wednesday’s practice with injuries were CB Joe Haden (shoulder), RB James Conner (knee), FB Roosevelt Nix (knee), OLB Anthony Chickillo (foot) and ILB Vince Williams (hamstring). … TE Vance McDonald (back) was limited.