Maybe this will shine a light for some fans to realize that sometimes when a young player doesn't look overly impressive in their early seasons it might be because of their usage or the scheme they're in. It's not always all on the player just not living up to expectations.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. I’ve often contended that a player’s career in football is often dictated by the team he goes to and the coaches he plays for.
We’ve seen so many examples over the decades of players looking lost one place then serviceable, if not a star, elsewhere.
Like players themselves, coaches often underachieve and/or make mistakes. Sometimes they don’t see the talent in a player. Sometimes they misuse them. Sometimes they play favorites. It happens.
IMO, this kind of thing happens in football more than any of the other major sports.
Circling back to Minkah Fitzpatrick, we don’t know what the long term vision/plan was by Flores. Perhaps he chose to ‘misuse’ Fitz temporarily due to roster circumstances. Or perhaps it was deeper than that and he was trying to make a point and teach the kid something. Or maybe he really did just make a mistake. Who knows?
As a fan that championed drafting Minkah and defended him from the naysayers, I do agree with those questioning his character and ability to be a team player. I very much disagree with how he went about showing his disagreement (based upon how he explained it in the article).
These guys aren’t working at Starbucks. Entry into this business requires a draft. They don’t get to choose where they play and for whom. Not until FA, anyway. And even then, once the contract is signed, they don’t get to decide how they are utilized. They are paid to play and perform. Not to make coaching or front office decisions.
Furthermore, players of the past have endured far worse treatment yet still went out and honored their contract to the best of their ability. Doing anything else is behaving like an entitled petulant child. Which, unfortunately, has become more of the norm in recent time.
We don’t know what Flores and staff were going to do in the long term. But whatever it was, Minkah should have bought in like a team player until such time that he was a FA.
After all, it’s never the goal of any coach or franchise to misuse a player to the point of intentionally derailing their careers or getting them injured. Well, not unless your name is Al Davis anyway.......