The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the New York Jets Sunday at Heinz Field and now that the final injury report of the week is out, here are the list of 7 players below that we can project to be inactive for the game.
The 7 man inactive list is not announced until 90 minutes before gametime, and we will post the official list for both the Steelers and the Jets as soon as it is turned in. 4 of the 7 names that should populate the list on Sunday were on the injury report this week.
Stevenson Sylvester – Sylvester is still recovering from a torn MCL that he suffered just before the team left Latrobe and he has yet to resume practicing. He was listed as out on Friday injury report and will not play this week.
James Harrison – Harrison did not practice all week and was listed as questionable on the Friday injury report. Head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that Harrison was to run on Wednesday and that they hoped to ramp up his activity as the week went on, but it appears that extra activity never took place. It is all but certain that Harrison will once again not dress on Sunday.
Troy Polamalu – According to Tomlin, Polamalu suffered a strained left calf in the game last Sunday night. He was to be limited in the early part of this past week but ultimately never practiced and was listed on the Friday injury report as questionable. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau made it sound on Thursday in his talk with the media that the safety would sit out this week, so it appears that Ryan Mundy will likely start in his place.
Rashard Mendenhall – Despite practicing fully once again all week, the Steelers running back was once again listed as doubtful on the Friday injury report and thus will sit out the game against the Jets. Mendenhall continues to rehab back from his torn ACL and it is looking more and more like he will not see his first action until after the bye week.
Alameda Ta\’amu – With Casey Hampton and Steve McLendon both healthy, Ta\’amu is destined to be on the inactive list for several weeks during his rookie season.
Charlie Batch – Batch remains the third quarterback on the depth chart and is expected to be inactive for a second week in a row.
Kelvin Beachum – The final spot on the inactive list will more than likely belong to Beachum once again. The only other option would likely be Al Woods, but with both Marcus Gilbert (knee) and Ramon Foster (eye) practicing fully all week, and not showing up on the injury report, Tomlin will likely dress only 7 offensive linemen once again on Sunday.
