Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is at risk of missing his fourth consecutive game when the team travels to Cincinnati this weekend.
Mike Tomlin presented a recycled comment on the availability of Fitzpatrick, who he said is working hard to be a component of this week’s plan. “We get later in the week, we’ll let the amount of that participation and the quality of it potentially be our guide in terms of their availability,” Tomlin said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
Two weeks ago — leading up to the Week 10 Green Bay Packers matchup — Tomlin had said Fitzpatrick was improving. It offered a glimmer of hope that he could return to help defend Jordan Love and Company. Instead, he’s remained sidelined and has yet to practice since injuring his hamstring in their Week 8 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Tomlin seemed irritated when pressed as to whether Fitzpatrick experienced a setback. “Do I seem less optimistic now? No, there’s no loss of optimism.”
Pittsburgh is thin at safety with Keanu Neal and Elijah Riley recently going on injured reserve.
