The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the 2-7 Tennessee Titans Monday night at LP Field and their first injury report that was released Thursday afternoon shows no real surprises based on what head coach Mike Tomlin indicated Tuesday during weekly his press conference.
Sitting out injured Thursday and already ruled out for the game Monday night were safety Troy Polamalu (knee) and linebacker Ryan Shazier (ankle).
With Polamalu still out, veteran safety Will Allen is expected to start once again in his absence. Also, Vince Williams and Sean Spence are expected to continue rotating alongside Lawrence Timmons at inside linebacker with Shazier still out.
Nose tackle Steve McLendon (shoulder) also failed to practice Thursday and while he hasn’t officially been ruled out for the Titans game, he’s not expected to play. Word surfaced Thursday morning that rookie nose tackle Daniel McCullers will make his first career start against the Titans, so we can probably expect McLendon to be inactive.
Safety Shamarko Thomas (hamstring) and safety Ross Ventrone (hamstring) are both attempting to make it back this week from hamstring injuries. Thomas was limited Thursday while Ventrone practiced fully.
Cornerback Ike Taylor (forearm) continues to practice on a limited basis Thursday as he waits to be cleared for full contact by the team doctors. Tomlin said Tuesday that Taylor will not play Monday night against the Titans and that means he will miss an eighth consecutive game.
Defensive end Brett Keisel (not injury related) and linebacker Arthur Moats (not injury related) also reportedly sat out the Thursday session.
The Steelers and Titans are scheduled to kick off at 8:30 p.m. ET Monday, Nov. 17.
