Minkah Fitzpatrick set to correct communication lapses that hurt Steelers late last season

Mindful that he might say the wrong thing, Minkah Fitzpatrick chose to say nothing two days after the 2024 season concluded for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Feeling the sting of a 28-14 wild-card playoff loss at Baltimore, the fourth time in his six Steelers seasons that they dropped their postseason opener, Fitzpatrick politely declined to speak to reporters as players cleaned out their lockers at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

Almost six months later, after the organization had changed his position coach and brought in some new reinforcements for the secondary, Fitzpatrick felt more at ease looking back while choosing to also focus on what might be in store during the 2025 season.

Fitzpatrick pointed to communication issues in the secondary as one reason for the Steelers’ late-season slide as they lost their final five games. Eradicating any ambiguity served as a talking point during offseason workouts that concluded with minicamp earlier this week.

“Leave no gray,” Fitzpatrick said. “Football should be black and white. In regard to execution and schematics, there should be no gray.”

That wasn’t the case in December when the Steelers defense gave up an average of 403 yards in losses to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas City: two Super Bowl participants and a division champion. In the playoff matchup against the Ravens, the Steelers were torched for 464 yards, including 299 rushing.

Numerous examples could be found of players being out of position, resulting in the defense giving up big play after big play.

No more, Fitzpatrick said during a lengthy interview at OTAs.

“This is how we’re doing it. This is how we’re going to communicate,” he said. “If I give you a thumbs-up, give me a thumbs-up back. If I give you a thumbs-down, you better give me a thumbs-down back. It’s as simple as that.

“It’s establishing that this is what we’re doing. If you don’t want to do it, you’re not going to be here. We’ve been really pressing down and instilling that in everybody.”

The biggest casualty of the late-season slide was secondary coach Grady Brown, whose contract was not renewed. He was replaced by Gerald Alexander, who returned to the organization after spending one year in Las Vegas. Alexander previously served as an assistant to Brown and now is in charge of the entire secondary.

His goal when he returned to the organization was to correct the communication lapses that took place all too frequently last season.

“It’s making sure the communication is streamlined,” he said. “The givers and takers understand what is going on so we can have success on a play.”

Fitzpatrick is the senior member of the secondary, and he has five Pro Bowl selections and three first-team All-Pro designations, to show for his individual accolades. He is in charge of calling the signals in the secondary and took it personally when the communication lapses happened on his watch.

“There were too many instances where one guy thought one thing and another thought another,” he said. “We weren’t on the same page, and it led to a big play. That was one of the larger things.”

The Steelers also signed 34-year-old Darius Slay from the Super Bowl-champion Eagles to replace Donte Jackson at one cornerback spot, and they added another former Super Bowl champion, Juan Thornhill, to man the third safety position. He replaced Damontae Kazee, who was not re-signed.

Alexander said the entire secondary has been receptive to the communication fixes he has prescribed. He compared it to Monopoly.

“If you land on the Chance square, you have a chance on anything,” he said. “At least you have a chance. Great communication gives us a chance. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll have success, but if you have good non-verbal and verbal communication and make sure we’re on the same page, we have a chance to be successful on a given play.”

Fitzpatrick was picked for the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season, and he was surprised by the honor considering he has totaled one interception over the past two seasons. His inability to make the big play after having six interceptions in 2022 isn’t representative of a player who was given the biggest contract to a safety in 2022. Fitzpatrick received $36 million in guarantees in a deal totaling $73.6 million.

The inability for the Steelers to scheme Fitzpatrick to be in position to make big plays has been glaring the past two seasons as he became a fixture in the box whose primary contribution at free safety was making tackles. He had 96 last year to rank third on the team.

“It’s not chasing the results but mastering the process that puts him in position to make plays,” Alexander said. “It comes with alignments, assignments, being a great communicator. When those techniques and opportunities align, that is when the splash happens.”

Fitzpatrick, for his part, seems wary of talking about ways the Steelers can get him more involved in disrupting the passing game like he did earlier in his career.

“I’ve just got to play football,” he said. “That’s it.”

Which means showing up for the voluntary workouts in the spring. Fitzpatrick had regular attendance at the six OTA sessions that preceded mandatory minicamp.

“Because we’re working,” Fitzpatrick said when asked about his attendance. “At the end of the day, it will get you better at playing football. It’s hard to simulate that when you’re in Florida or Vegas or California. We’re playing football. Whether it’s (individual drills), seven shots or 7-on-7, we’re getting better. That is hard to do on your own.”