Since Minkah Fitzpatrick joined the Pittsburgh Steelers early in the 2019 season, Terrell Edmunds could count on him lining up at free safety for every game.

He learned Fitzpatrick’s tendencies and developed a rapport with the two-time All-Pro selection.

“When you’re together like that, each year we’ve gotten more and more comfortable together,” Edmunds said. “We definitely have that bond on the field.”

That bond is expected to be broken Sunday night when the Steelers (5-3-1) play at the Los Angeles Chargers (5-4). Fitzpatrick remains on the reserve/covid list and is not being counted on to clear protocols in time to be activated for the game, which would end his streak of consecutive starts with the Steelers at 39.

Amid all of the injuries and issues the Steelers have experienced in having players available to play this season, they could count on the Fitzpatrick-Edmunds pairing in the secondary. Fitzpatrick played every defensive snap through the first nine games, and Edmunds was on the field for 98% of those plays.

“Not having your partner in crime out there is always tough, but we have other guys that can come in and are fully capable,” Edmunds said Wednesday. “Just have those guys come out and let them get comfortable during practice, and then they can go out there and play the game.”

The likely candidate to replace Fitzpatrick in rookie seventh-rounder Tre Norwood, who is listed as the second-team free safety on coach Mike Tomlin’s official depth chart. Norwood played 28 snaps in the Steelers’ 16-16 tie with the Detroit Lions, though more than half of those were as a slot cornerback. His playing time increased after cornerback Joe Haden left after nine snaps with a foot injury, and the Steelers had to shuffle their secondary to replace him.

Norwood could be on the move again. He has played 49 of his 224 defensive snaps at free safety, but 37 of those occurred during the first two weeks of the season when Fitzpatrick roamed around the secondary.

“Tre played with us last game. He’s played in different personnel groups already,” Edmunds said. “We already know Tre is a great player. We have all different kind of guys that can go out there and make plays. We’re definitely going to see how everything plays out.”

At his weekly news conference Tuesday, Tomlin didn’t rule out the Steelers using multiple players to fill Fitzpatrick’s role. Miles Killebrew is a possibility in certain subpackages. Karl Joseph could be promoted from the practice squad. Even Edmunds could move back and play the deep safety position.

“It may divide the labor up a little bit more, but that’s what we do,” Tomlin said. “We look at the hand that’s dealt, we play the hand that’s dealt and we put ourselves in a position to win.”

The process of determining Fitzpatrick’s replacement began Wednesday when the Steelers conducted their first of three practices this week. Fitzpatrick’s absence coincided with his 25th birthday.

“We had some mixing and matching,” Edmunds said. “We’re trying to figure out exactly how we’re going to do it.”

Fitzpatrick hasn’t produced the same type of splash as he did in his first two seasons with the Steelers when he combined for nine interceptions, 11 pass deflections and two touchdown returns. In nine games, he has defended just one pass, and the next interception he gets will be his first.

Still, Fitzpatrick is the most dynamic member of the secondary, and Edmunds said his presence will be missed against the Chargers.

“He definitely makes an impact because of his leadership out there,” he said. “He’s a very vocal guy. He’s a guy you can count on to be in the right spot. Even though he doesn’t have the interceptions or the turnovers like people want him to have, he’s still playing good football for us.”

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