Pittsburgh Steelers’ star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has broken his silence on the unfortunate hit he delivered on Nick Chubb that ended the latter’s season on Monday night.
Chubb was injured in the second quarter of the Steelers-Cleveland Browns’ Week 2 contest at Acrisure Stadium. Chubb had to be carted off, and head coach Kevin Stefanski subsequently confirmed that the superstar running back will be out for the year as he prepares to undergo knee surgery.
Many fans expressed anger and outrage toward Fitzpatrick, believing that his hit on Chubb was dirty. Fitzpatrick got the chance to address that criticism while speaking to reporters on Thursday, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor:
“Im a guy that is a competitor, that’s going to go out there and play the game. 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. I played against him for the past five years, two times a year.
And I love competing against him. He brings the best out of me, and I bring the best out of him. No chance that I would ever try and purposely injure somebody, always. It was an unfortunate event…
You make decisions within milliseconds. 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.”
It certainly is an unfortunate break for one of the game’s most electrifying and well-respected players like Chubb. The injury was so gruesome that ABC rightfully refused to air the replay of it during the game broadcast.
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On Wednesday, the Browns brought back former rushing champion Kareem Hunt on a one-year deal to help the rushing game. Second-year RB Jerome Ford played well in Chubb’s absence on Monday, finishing with 106 rushing yards and three receptions for 25 yards and one receiving score.
Hunt spent the previous four seasons with the Browns, recording 1,874 yards and 16 touchdowns to go along with 132 catches for 973 yards and seven touchdowns. He won the rushing title as a rookie for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017 with 1,327 yards.
