The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Houston Texans Monday night at Heinz Field and below is a best guess as to what the inactive list will look like this week. The official list of inactives will be announced 90 minutes before kickoff.
Ike Taylor – Taylor will miss his fourth straight game Monday night as he continues to recover from the broken forearm that suffered back in Week 3. Taylor is still unsure as to when he might be able to return to action, but it isn’t likely to be anytime soon. The Steelers bye takes place in Week 12, so perhaps he can make it back for the final five games.
Steve McLendon – The Steelers starting nose tackle suffered a right shoulder sprain last Sunday and he was ruled out for the Monday night game this past Tuesday. With McLendon out against the Texans, Cam Thomas is expected to start in his place with rookie Daniel McCullers also expected to see some playing time as well.
Shamarko Thomas – The hamstring injury suffered by Thomas back in Week 5 still isn’t fully healed. The second-year safety wasn’t able to do much in practice this past week so we will keep our fingers crossed that he will make it back next Sunday. With Thomas out once again, reserve safety Ross Ventrone will get a helmet and help out on special teams against the Texans.
Ryan Shazier – While Shazier is officially listed as questionable on the Saturday injury report, nobody is expecting him to suit up Monday night against the Texans. The Steelers rookie linebacker wasn’t able to do much more than limited work this past week and was seen still sporting a brace on his injured right knee. Like Thomas, the hope is that Shazier will be ready to return to action next Sunday.
Landry Jones – Jones remains a permanent fixture on the Steelers inactive list and should not dress Monday night once again.
Chris Hubbard – Hubbard should once again see his name on the inactive list as the Steelers are only expected to dress seven offensive linemen against the Texans Monday night.
Lance Moore – I’m guessing that the final spot this week will go to Moore with rookie wide receiver Martavis Bryant expected to dress for the first time this season. Moore didn’t have a great game last Sunday and the fact that he doesn’t play on special teams could play against him Monday night. If, however, Moore does get a helmet, I would look for cornerback B.W. Webb to be inactive instead. It will be interesting to see how head coach Mike Tomlin handles this final spot.
