On Monday night, Cleveland Browns star running back Nick Chubb suffered a season-ending injury after Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick hit him low resulting in a brutal knee injury. Fitzpatrick has since been criticized for the hit with many fans and media members alike deeming it a “dirty” hit, but he defended himself this week.
During his press conference this week, Minkah Fitzpatrick made it clear that he doesn’t see himself as a dirty player, and he was not trying to injure Nick Chubb on the play.
“I’m a guy that is a competitor, that’s going to go out there and play the game,” Fitzpatrick said according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “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.
Fitzpatrick also made it clear that he wouldn’t necessarily change anything about the play, either.
“You make decisions within milliseconds. You can’t really control what happens after you choose to make your decision,” Fitzpatrick said. “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.”
It’s unclear whether this explanation will satisfy his critics.