The way Minkah Fitzpatrick was deployed on defense in the season opener for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was reminiscent of a certain safety who just a few weeks earlier was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Defensive coordinator Keith Butler isn’t calling Fitzpatrick the next Troy Polamalu, but he plans to use the fourth-year pro in a similar fashion this season. Polamalu had the freedom to roam the defense during most of his 11 seasons with the Steelers.

As for Fitzpatrick?

“Not as much,” Butler said Thursday. “He’s a good player for us. We like what he can do. We’re going to use his versatility.”

Fitzpatrick’s skill set was on display in the Steelers’ 23-16 victory at Buffalo. He played 48 snaps at his traditional free safety slot, according to Pro Football Focus. He lined up 22 times at the slot corner position, and he took 13 plays lined up in the box.

Sort of like Polamalu did for a decade with the Steelers.

“Troy is (in) the Hall of Fame, but if there is a player you can compare him to, I like Minkah,” veteran cornerback Joe Haden said. “The same way you just heard that Troy wasn’t much of a talker, you don’t say too much and let your ball speak for yourself. Minkah prepares like he’s not even on the team. He shows everyone that if your All-Pro safety is playing like this, what are you doing not working this hard?

“I never got to play with Troy, but I can see by playing with Minkah that it’s kinda the same person.”

Fitzpatrick’s debut was a departure from his first 30 starts with the Steelers when he almost exclusively remained at free safety.

“It was new for him last week, but not when he was at Alabama,” Butler said. “He did it at Alabama, and we figured he could do it here.”

That might be true, but didn’t Fitzpatrick balk at the all of shifting he was asked to do during his one-plus season in Miami?

Butler said Fitzpatrick was on board with the added responsibility.

“We didn’t have to convince him of nothing,” Butler said. “He was wanting to do it. He enjoyed himself, and we enjoyed him doing it.”

Butler theorized Fitzpatrick was willing to expand his role because of his familiarity with the defense. He essentially is in his third season with the organization.

“He knows what everyone else is doing,” he said. “When he first got in here … nobody knows what all we are doing, but we have to encourage our guys to know what all 11 are doing. If you know what all 11 are doing, you know where your help is and where your help isn’t.

“He’s done a good job of learning that in the short time he’s been here. He said, ‘Hey, I’d like to do that,’ and we’re glad for him to do it and move around.”

Fitzpatrick’s instinctive style came in handy early in the fourth quarter with the Bills trying to build on a 10-6 lead. On a third-and-3 from the Steelers 43, the Bills called a run play that sent Matt Breida around the right end. Fitzpatrick, lined up about a dozen yards behind the line of scrimmage when the play began, moved up and stopped Breida a yard short of a first down.

The Steelers got a stop on fourth-and-1, then scored the go-ahead touchdown on the next possession.

“He read it,” Butler said. “He was supposed to be at the deep half, but he came down and made the play. That was another Troy-like deal.”

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