Minkah Fitzpatrick Not Fined for Hit on Nick Chubb

The NFL did not fine Steelers free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick for his hit against Nick Chubb that ended Chubb’s season and had him carted off the field. Many fans and critics said that the hit, while not illegal, was dirty as Fitzpatrick went right for Chubb’s knee to bring him near the goal line.

Multiple Browns players over the week came to the defense of Fitzpatrick, including star edge rusher Myles Garrett and safety Grant Delpit. To those players and Minkah Fitzpatrick himself, it is just the game of football. For Delpit, a safety, that is something that he felt like he might do at some points, while Garrett pointed to how the Browns will use that strategy against Derrick Henry this week.

“It’s football, man,” Delpit said. “I can’t say what I would’ve done in that moment, but I’m sure he didn’t mean to do any harm to Nick or anything like that. It was a crazy play. Plays can go a thousand ways every play. You never know. It’s tough playing this sport sometimes.”

Fitzpatrick’s rationale is that Chubb had far more weight on him, forcing him to go low. He made that decision the moment that Chubb went through the hole, and he claims he did not see Cole Holcomb bringing him down before he went low to help make the tackle.

“I would say, one: they’ve never tackled Nick Chubb before if they’re telling me to go high,” Fitzpatrick said. “Two: What | seen was it opened up, it’s goal line. I didn’t see anybody on him. I made the decision as soon as I saw the hole open up and him in the hole to go low. You can tell me how to tackle him low, but it’s a fast game. It’s a game (where) you make decisions in milliseconds. Can’t really control what happens after you choose to make your decision. I already chose to go low. Somebody got on his back when I was going low, and what happened happened. There’s nothing I really would do differently. Again, like I said earlier, it’s very unfortunate. Nick Chubb’s a great player. He makes the game a lot better when he’s playing. Just hope for a speedy recovery.”

Fitzpatrick ended his statements with a clear message about the hit. He’s praying for Chubb and what happened, but he is not a dirty player. Fitzpatrick says he plays with an edge and is chippy more than a dirty player.