'You have to know where No. 39 is': Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick drawing Browns' attention

BEREA − Jacoby Brissett knows exactly what Pittsburgh Steeler defender his eyes will almost immediately go to when he gets to the line of scrimmage with the Browns offense on Thursday. He's the one wearing No. 39, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

"Obviously, you have to know where No. 39 [Fitzpatrick] is when you break the huddle and be aware of him," Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett said this week. "He is as good as advertised of what you see on film. It will be a challenge, that is for sure. It is going to take a 60-minute football game of focus and attention to detail in the things that we are going through in our game plan to make the right decisions.”

To say the Steelers' safety is a one-man wrecking crew would be, well, accurate. The return on investment Pittsburgh has gotten from the first-round draft pick the team expended to acquire Fitzpatrick in a 2019 trade with the Miami Dolphins has been massive.

In Fitzpatrick's 48 games with the Steelers, he's intercepted 13 passes, returning three for touchdowns, along with three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown), three tackles for loss and 223 tackles. This year alone, he's intercepted a pass in each of the Steelers' first two games, returning one for a touchdown in the opener at Cincinnati.

So yes, the Browns are quite aware of the No. 11 overall pick in 2018.

“He is a really, really good football player," coach Kevin Stefanski said of Fitzpatrick. "Has corner skills playing corner earlier in his career where he can match receivers. He has unbelievable ball skills and unbelievable instincts. He is playing safety at as high of a level as anybody in the game in my opinion. Just a really, really good football player.”

The Steelers have moved Fitzpatrick around a bit already through two games. He's lined up on 116 defensive snaps at free safety, per Pro Football Focus, but there's also been 33 snaps as an in-the-box safety, 16 snaps in the slot and even three on the line of scrimmage.

The ability to move Fitzpatrick around just makes him the latest Steelers safety to hold a constant presence in the minds of opposing offenses. Much like Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu before him, he's a defender who transcends his position.

"He's a hell of a player," Browns receiver Amari Cooper said. "Really the full package in terms of instincts, IQ, ball skills, and he’ll also come up and make plays in the run game as far as tackling and everything like that. So I think he's their leader back there and everything starts with him. We have to be very aware of where he’s at at all times."

The Browns aren't ignoring the others on the Steelers' defense. They know about Cam Heyward up front and of what Alex Highsmith has done essentially filling in for the injured T.J. Watt alongside fellow linebackers Myles Jack and Devin Bush.

However, there's not ignoring those players, then there's the kind of attention the Browns are going to pay Fitzpatrick. They don't need reminded of his abilities, one of his three pick-6s as a Steeler came in a Week 6 2020 game against Cleveland in Pittsburgh, setting the tone for a 38-7 Steelers rout.

That's why Fitzpatrick is garnering the attention he has been, even in the limited amount of preparation time before the game.

"I mean, that's with all great players," Cooper said. "You want to give them extra attention because they've shown that they deserve it and they'll make you pay if you don't. Minkah's a great player. He makes a lot of plays. He already has two interceptions, took one to the crib, so you've got to be aware of where he is at all times."

For a receiver like Cooper, that's especially true. There's certainly going to come a point sometime during Thursday's game where the two Alabama products are matched up, even if just for a few moments.

The kind of impact Fitzpatrick makes is something that forces receivers to think and adjust in ways a lot of players don't typically. Specifically, he impacts the fundamental part of a receiver's job.

"It don't affect how I run routes," Cooper said. "I mean, it affects how I approach catching the ball, though. I mean, if you're always fundamentally sound, then, it's nothing really to worry about. For example, if you're running a route and you see him in the vicinity, you want to, like, high-point the ball and do all the things right because you know he's trying to come down with it as well as opposed to some other safeties not necessarily trying to come down with the ball. They're just trying to prevent you from catching it."

Something Fitzpatrick has been really good at doing for the Steelers. Good enough that it's impossible not to pay attention to him when he's on the field.

Especially if you're an opposing offense.

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Pittsburgh Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick drawing Browns' attention