The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cincinatti Bengals Sunday and here is what the inactive list could look like when it is released 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
Ike Taylor – Taylor will miss his third straight game with a fractured right ankle that he suffered back in the Week 13 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Taylor is reportedly out of his walking boot right now but is not a lock to play in the season finale next week against the Cleveland Browns.
Mike Adams – Adams was listed as doubtful on the Friday injury report with his ankle injury and is thus not expected to dress Sunday against the Bengals after only being able to practice on a limited basis two days this past week. This will be the fourth straight game missed for the rookie tackle and that means rookie Kelvin Beachum will once again start Sunday at right tackle.
Byron Leftwich – Leftwich has been the third string quarterback since returning from his rib injury suffered in the first game against the Ravens and that is not expected to change Sunday against the Bengals.
Al Woods – Woods is expected to be down again as a result of the number games as the Steelers have been comfortable dressing only five defensive linemen for the last few weeks. Woods did miss time at the beginning of the week due to an illness but was able to practice fully on both Thursday and Friday.
Plaxico Burress – Burress could be inactive once again being as Emmanuel Sanders seems to be fine after suffering a cracked rib last Sunday in the loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers have only dressed five wide receivers once since Burress was signed several weeks ago.
Adrian Robinson – The Steelers just do not have enough helmets to go around and if they choose to dress five running backs you would think that one of the linebackers would most likely have to sit. My guess is Robinson.
Justin King – King was signed off of the street this past week to help provide some depth at the cornerback position. Assuming Keenan Lewis is healthy enough to play he might be forced to be inactive due to the numbers and the fact that there is no way that he can be up to speed yet as far as the defense goes. The only other candidate for this spot would be either Isaac Redman or Baron Batch assuming the report is true that Rashard Mendenhall will dress. I have no confidence in who this last inactive player will be but hopefully it doesn\’t wind up being Lewis.
