Minkah Fitzpatrick calls out Steelers’ lack of effort in loss to Patriots: ‘Nothing’s handed to you’

Week 14 in the NFL started off with a rather shocking upset, as the Pittsburgh Steelers were defeated by the New England Patriots on their home field, 21-18. After failing to score 20 points in its last five games, New England quickly jumped out to a 21-3 lead thanks to three first-half Bailey Zappe touchdown passes, and while the Steelers scored the final 15 points of the game, it wasn’t enough.

After the game, Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was asked about the mindset of the team, and how he felt after a game like this. He called out the lack of effort from his team. 

“In order to see the fruit, you’ve gotta toil for it,” Fitzpatrick said, via ESPN. “I think too many people don’t want to toil for it. They just want to walk out here and think that they’re going to make plays and think that they’re going to perform at a high level. I think we need to have more people who want to work for it, not expect it to be handed to them.

“This is the NFL. Nothing’s handed to you. You got to earn everything. I think that dudes just think that because they’re wearing the black and gold, that they’re going to win games, and I think we need to check that mentality and make people realize that they got to earn that mentality, and they got to earn every single blade of grass, every single splash play and every single rep that they get out there. They got to earn it.”

Thursday night, the Steelers became the first team in NFL history with a winning record to lose consecutive games to teams that were at least eight games under .500. This happened in the span of five days, as the Steelers also lost at home to the Arizona Cardinals, 24-10, on Sunday.

The Steelers still have a winning record at 7-6, but with this latest loss, they fell out of their wild card spot, and head into NFL Sunday the No. 8 seed in the AFC. Up next for the Steelers are the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, Dec. 16.