The Cleveland Browns have every reason to bristle when Minkah Fitzpatrick shows up on the other side. His name already carries baggage in Cleveland thanks to the 2023 Monday night hit that effectively ended Nick Chubb’s career when Fitzpatrick, then with the Pittsburgh Steelers, drove into Chubb’s knee.
That history was back in the spotlight Sunday, and not in a subtle way. In the first quarter, Fitzpatrick was flagged for a facemask so violent it ripped the helmet off wide receiver KC Concepcion. A few plays later, he came in with a head shot on Concepcion during a pass play, and Concepcion was knocked out of the game with a concussion.
On Monday, Browns head coach Todd Monken was asked about it and refused to frame it as anything outside the flow of the game.
”It was a bang-bang play. He made a nice break on the ball.
It is unfortunate what happened, but that is going to happen in games, and I’ve gone against, like I said last night, Minkah a bunch, and I’ve always had a ton of respect for him, and I’ve never understood him to be a player that’s trying to injure other players. I’ve never known him to be that.
I know he’s a guy that plays the ball well in the air and is aggressive, and unfortunately it ended up being a bang-bang play, and it cost us a player.”
Monken’s stance was notable, if only because it didn’t lean into defending his own guy. But not everyone in the Cleveland locker room saw it the same way.
Offensive tackle Dawand Jones had a much harsher read, and he didn’t keep it to himself. According to cleveland.com, Jones confronted Fitzpatrick and told him:
“I just told him that (expletive)’s (expletive) up. I was there on the field when he did that (expletive) to Chubb, and he just told me, ‘It’s football,’ and I’m not down with that (expletive).
“That (expletive)’s not football at that point; you’re just out there trying to hurt people. I’m not cool with that.
But I’m gonna tell you to your face, flat out how it is. You can like it or not and get down with it, or you could do something about it.
And you see what he did.”
The debate spilled beyond the field, too. On Monday, the play drew a social media reaction questioning why the NFL tolerates Fitzpatrick’s style of play, and that, predictably, drew plenty of pushback from Jets and Steelers fans.
Which leaves the larger question hanging there: was it just hard-nosed football, or something more? Back in the day, TV crews would flash a controversial play on screen and ask viewers to “make the call!” This one fits that bill.
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