INT End of drought? Minkah Fitzpatrick spent the week figuring out passes

For Minkah Fitzpatrick’s 28th birthday, no gift would be sweeter than breaking his interception drought against the Baltimore Ravens. Without a pick since 2022, Fitzpatrick apparently had a fantastic week of practice against QB Justin Fields and the Steelers scout team offense simulating Lamar Jackson. Fields had success and gave Pittsburgh’s defense good looks, but Fitzpatrick won his battles.

“One guy who isn’t angry is Minkah Fitzpatrick, who has intercepted Justin Fields several times this week,” ESPN’s Brooke Pryor said on SportsCenter on Sunday morning. “I had another time where he chased him after a play. He said Fields couldn’t talk much nonsense after that.’

To his credit, and as Pryor noted, Fields said he enjoys playing scout team quarterback. After making the defense look good for Washington QB Jayden Daniels, he did the same for Jackson this week.

A Fitzpatrick interception against the Ravens would bring things full circle. His last pick came against Baltimore in Week 17 of the 2022 season, a decisive takeaway in a 16-13 win.

Minkah Fitzpatrick hasn’t gotten his hands on another pass since. His 2023 season could be excused, a season marked by repeated injuries and missteps, playing in the box and supporting the run that is more than ideal for him or the team. Healthy in 2024, he has resumed his free safety role, but hasn’t ended his career drought yet. His play still has intangible benefits, like discouraging quarterbacks from throwing deep and over the middle, but he admitted he could be more aggressive on the football side. There is a balance that is difficult to walk neatly.

Still, what he has done has worked for the Steelers’ defense. They are the No. 2 scoring defense, with less than one passing score per game and a respectable 10 interceptions as a unit. Fitzpatrick’s play is still solid as a tackler and communicator, and he has made flashy plays in coverage, including a big pass breakup against the New York Giants in Week 8.

But a playmaker like Fitzpatrick has to be happy to celebrate an interception. He caught at least one pass in college and during his first five NFL seasons. Now he’s approaching two full calendar years without one. There’s no better time than the present, on his birthday, and against a Ravens offense that needs to be slowed down.