The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Baltimore Ravens Sunday and here is what the inactive list will most likely look like when it is released 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
4 of the 7 names on the list this week will be inactive this week because those players were ruled out for the game due to injuries on the Friday injury report. 2 of the 3 remaining names were also on the injury report with both being listed as questionable.
Ben Roethlisberger – Despite the hype that there might be a chance that Roethlisberger could play on Sunday, he was only able to get some light throwing in during the week of practice. Roethlisberger said this past week that he will wear beefed up shoulder pads whenever he returns and a few are already speculating that he might not be ready next week for the home game against the San Diego Chargers. It is really too early to tell if indeed that will be the situation as a week is a long time and Roethlisberger is chomping at the bit to get back under center.
Byron Leftwich – Leftwich failed to practice this week due to his rib injury and will be inactive as well. The Steelers did not place him on injured reserve so they must think that he will be healthy enough at some point. This will make the second consecutive week that he has been inactive after starting two weeks ago against the Ravens.
Mike Adams – Adams suffered a left ankle injury last week against the Cleveland Browns and was unable to practice all week as a result. It would not be surprising to see him also miss the game against the Chargers as well. His injury happened when his leg was caught underneath a sacked Charlie Batch on Sunday and he was noted as wearing a boot all week. He was officially ruled out on Friday.
LaMarr Woodley– Woodley suffered an ankle injury early in the game last week against the Browns. He tried to return after getting it wrapped, but it wasn\’t good enough for him to be able to get up on his toes. This will be the second game that Woodley has missed this season as he also sat out the game earlier in the season against the Tennessee Titans with a hamstring injury.
Jerricho Cotchery – Cotchery was limited all week with his injured ribs that he suffered late in the loss to the Ravens two weeks ago. He was inactive last week against the Browns and is expected to be inactive again on Sunday in Baltimore despite his questionable listing. It is unknown if he will be ready for the game next week against the Chargers.
DeMarcus Van Dyke – Van Dyke has been inactive for four of the last five games and it seems that trend will continue in Baltimore. With Woodley out, the Steelers will most certainly choose to dress Adrian Robinson for this game.
Willie Colon – This last spot is really tough to gauge. The Steelers currently have 9 offensive linemen on the active roster with one being out in the form of Adams. They also haven\’t dressed 8 linemen all season. Rookie David DeCastro was activated from the designated to return list this week and appears to be ready to dress. John Malecki was activated mighty early in the week from the practice squad as well. Colon was unable to practice this past week with his injured knee until Friday, and even that was on a limited basis. He dressed last week against the Browns and went through warm-ups but was unable to play. With Colon missing all of the meaningful reps this week, center Maurkice Pouncey played left guard with Doug Legursky taking over at center. All of these signs point to Colon needing another week of rest so I am going to out on a limb and guess he will be inactive with Malecki will dressing in his place.
