Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick played through broken hand against Cardinals

Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick reportedly suffered a break in his left hand mid-game on Sunday but after receiving treatment and a cast, the veteran returned to finish the game, according to Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin. The defender returned to action this week after recovering from a hamstring injury that had him on the sidelines for the last four games.

The 27-year-old came into the game tied for second on the Steelers with 54 tackles (37 solo). He added five more tackles on Sunday in the 24-10 loss.

Cameras captured Fitzpatrick with the cast on his left hand as he traded jerseys with Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray after the game. It’s unclear how the injury will impact him for the rest of the season but if he could return and play on Sunday, it’s possible he can play through it for the final five games of the season.

Kyler Murray & Minkah Fitzpatrick with the jersey exchange pic.twitter.com/g3ifZvQMnJ

— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) December 3, 2023

The Steelers and Cardinals had to wait out two weather delays that kept the game going well into the second quarter of the late window games.

Kenny Pickett ruled out for Steelers vs Arizona

The Pittsburgh Steelers sent quarterback Kenny Pickett to the blue medical tent on Sunday in the second quarter versus the Atlanta Falcons and he was questionable to return with an ankle injury and is now officially out for the remainder of the game. After a goal-line dive, Pickett was slow to get up and required some help getting off of the field.

The Steelers inserted backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky to go for it on fourth and short, but running back Najee Harris failed to cross into the endzone. The starting QB was 8-for-11 for 75 yards prior to the injury. 

Although Pittsburgh had little hope of a comeback effort, Trubisky managed to find Diontae Johnson for a touchdown to make it 24-10 late in the fourth quarter.

Already down starting quarterback Kenny Pickett, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost linebacker T.J. Watt in the fourth quarter to a leg injury. The team’s sack leader needed attention on the sideline and went to the medical tent before joining his teammates on the bench Though he returned to the bench, he continued to receive medical attention from a trainer.

Watt didn’t address the injury in his post-game press conference but responded to a question about how the officials have handled offensive linemen doing a little extra on his rushes.

“I don’t know,” he said. “The NFL has something going against me, so I don’t wanna talk any more negatively towards them. I don’t know what I did, but I’ll leave it at that.”