Week 3 is upon us and the Steelers go on the road this week to play the Indianapolis Colts Sunday night. The final injury report of the week was released on Friday and I will now make my weekly prediction of the 7 man inactive list for this week. The official inactives will be released 90 minutes before kick-off and I will have those posted on site immediately after they are announced in the press box.
QB Dennis Dixon – Not a tough one here as Dixon has been inactive for the first two games thus far this season. Ben Roethlisberger practiced fully all last week following the knee injury he suffered against the Seahawks, so there must not be any concern with him.
RB Jonathan Dwyer – Dwyer must have injured his shoulder over the course of the last week or so as he showed up on the injury report this week. After being limited on Wednesday, he practiced fully on Thursday and Friday and was listed as probable. Regardless of his status, Dwyer will more than likely be inactive for a third straight game as the Steelers only dress three running backs.
G/T Chris Scott – Scott will be back down again with Chris Kemoeatu back as the Steelers will dress Ramon Foster and Trai Essex again as the two extra linemen. Like Dixon and Dwyer, Scott will likely be inactive for many games to come baring an injury.
T Jamon Meredith – Pretty much ditto here as I posted about Scott. Meredith has only been on the team for a few weeks.
DE Brett Keisel – Keisel sustained a grade-one PCL strain to his right knee during the win last week against the Seahawks and he did not practice all week. He was ruled out on the Friday injury report as expected and will not play this week. He will be replaced by Ziggy Hood in the starting line-up and the Steelers will dress just 6 defensive linemen this week.
LB Chris Carter – Carter seems like he is fully recovered from his hamstring injury, but will likely remain inactive for a third straight week. If he were to dress, it would be only for special team purposes and I think the Steelers would rather dress veteran wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery instead for the first time this season.
CB Bryant McFadden – The last spot is a coin flip as McFadden has practiced all week after being sat down last week with a nagging hamstring injury. It has already been reported that the Steelers will use the same cornerback personnel this week as they did last week against the Seahawks, so that means William Gay will start and Keenan Lewis will come in on nickel downs. McFadden does not contribute on special teams so the Steelers will likely dress rookies Curtis Brown and Cortez Allen and give McFadden another week to try to shake the injury.
