Star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Pittsburgh Steelers has spoken out about the horrible hit he made to Nick Chubb on Monday night, which terminated Chubb’s season.
During the second quarter of Week 2’s Steelers-Cleveland Browns game at Acrisure Stadium, Chubb suffered an injury. Chubb needed to be taken away, and head coach Kevin Stefanski later announced that the top running back would miss the entire season as he got ready for knee surgery.
#Browns Kevin Stefanski said Nick Chubb will require surgery on his knee. His season is officially over.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) September 19, 2023
Many fans believe that Fitzpatrick did indeed injure Nick Chubb on purpose and that he must be reprimanded for it. Fitzpatrick spoke to ESPN regarding the backlash and dwelling into detail of what actually happened and said,
“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.”
Minkah Fitzpatrick, who says he’s good to go for Sunday, talks about the Nick Chubb tackle and says he’s not a dirty player. pic.twitter.com/R7nW7RthaS
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 21, 2023
It is undoubtedly a bad break for Chubb, one of the most exciting and well-liked players in the league. Because the incident was so horrific, ABC was right to decline to show a repeat of it during the broadcast of the game.
best friends have each other's back 🧡@Kareemhunt7 | @NickChubb pic.twitter.com/CWcin7vPRz
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 20, 2023
Kareem Hunt, a past rushing champion, was re-signed by the Browns on a one-year contract on Wednesday in an effort to improve the rushing game. On Monday, second-year running back Jerome Ford performed admirably in place of Chubb, ending with 106 rushing yards, three receptions for 25 yards, and one receiving touchdown.
Hunt played for the Browns during the previous four seasons, compiling 1,874 yards and 16 touchdowns in addition to 132 receptions for 973 yards and seven scores. As a rookie for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017, he won the rushing title.
