The Pittsburgh Steelers secondary has a few new pieces that are all looking to find their way currently and an incumbent star working on contract negotiations with the team. Safety Terrell Edmunds, who signed a one-year deal to return to the Steelers after testing the free agent market for a bit, but elected to return back to his NFL roots in the Steel City, spoke to the media following the last day of the 2022 Steelers' minicamp yesterday. He discusses the soft-holdout of Steelers' star safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick, the cornerback battle, and what makes Fitzpatrick so special.
Aug 21, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers strong safety Terrell Edmunds (34) reacts after a defensive stop against the Detroit Lions during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
On the cornerback battle, after a reporter used the word "uncertainty" while referencing the position:
"Yeah, I wouldn't really call it uncertainty. I just call it a dog fight now. Everybody is out there competing, we got some good guys over there that's competing. Yes. We had Joe [Haden], he was an older guy, but now we have a bunch of different guys out there competing, trying to see who's going to take that step to being the starter this week, the starter next week. And we got three guys. We got pretty much all our guys that [are] starter capable."
Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback, Levi Wallace(#29) practices at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex during the 2022 Minicamp on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (Karl Roser/ Pittsburgh Steelers)
Edmunds, after being questioned about it again, referred to the Fitzpatrick contract situation:
"Hopefully, they got to pay him."
"Do you expect he's going to practice in camp, though, or do you think it'll take until the contract?"
"I honestly do not know. I don't know how that's going to turn out, but I definitely feel like he deserves it. So he deserves to get that top dollar and he's put in the work for it and the stats and everything show. So he definitely deserves that amount."
Pittsburgh Steelers safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick(#39) practices at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex during the 2022 Minicamp on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (Karl Roser/ Pittsburgh Steelers)
"How was he handled during last week, from your observations?"
"He's just being a vocal guy. Minkah, he's always been that leader. He's always been that guy that's out there trying to help us out the best way he can. And even though he's not practicing, it doesn't mean that he's not locked in. So he's still out there trying to give out pointers. He's watching every single play. He's giving his feedback of what he sees and he's trying to help us out the best way he can."
On what makes Fitzpatrick so special:
"He's just smart. He's a smart guy. He's out there. He's very detailed and you can just tell by the way he practices, the way he takes everything. He takes it with a game approach. And he's just a special player like that. So he's going out there making plays for us and he's helping us out. And then just a small communication thing that he gives out. It just helps out everyone in the defense.""I would say Minkah, he's down to Earth. He's a guy that you can talk to. He's a guy that just wants to win. You can just see the hunger in his eye that he wants to win. Each and every game. He doesn't care who makes the play, he just wants to play to be made and I think that's big on our defense in totality because even if you think about guys like TJ [Watt] or Cam [Heyward], they don't care who makes the play that week, they just want to go out there and win, but they're like the superstars of our team."
Terrell Edmunds (34) and Minkah Fitzpatrick (39) pose for a picture during 2021 OTA'S/ Pittsburgh Steelers
Check out the presser in its entirety here!
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