Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick downplays post-Browns game altercation with Diontae Johnson

Speaking to the media for the first time since a postgame incident in the locker room following a Nov. 19 loss at the Cleveland Browns, Minkah Fitzpatrick downplayed the verbal altercation with Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Diontae Johnson.

Johnson acknowledged he was “chirping” at coaches in frustration following the game and that he and Fitzpatrick got into a heated exchange that needed broken up by defensive captains Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt.

“We’re a brotherhood. Brothers fight,” Fitzpatrick said Friday after practice. “I’ve got a younger brother, and me and him butt heads sometimes. Sometimes I put him in a headlock, and sometimes he’s got to give me a little push or shove just to let him me know he’s there.

“It’s a brotherhood. That’s how we love each other sometimes. You know, at the end of the day, we all make amends. We move forward and chase the same goal together.”

An All-Pro safety, Fitzpatrick is considered among the Steelers’ leaders. Johnson, a wide receiver, is another one of the team’s longest-tenured players. He addressed teammates this week after showing little effort during a first-quarter play in a win Sunday at the Cincinnati Bengals.

After that game, Johnson also evoked “brotherhood” while addressing the reported incident with Fitzpatrick from the week before: “It really ain’t nothing. That’s my brothers at the end of the day. Players, we gonna be players. We’re passionate about the game, and everybody wants to win. You can’t look at it as we had an all-out brawl or whatever. It ain’t that, so don’t get it twisted. Players, everybody’s doing it on each and every team, talking junk to each other. We squashed it.”

Fitzpatrick has missed the past four games because of a hamstring injury but will return to action Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

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