The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their fifth game of the 2017 regular season at home Sunday afternoon against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a chance to improve their record to 4-1. As usual, I will attempt to project the seven inactives for each and every Steelers game of the 2017 season and below is my best guess as to which seven players won’t be given helmets Sunday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Game inactives are officially announced 90 minutes before kickoff, so make sure you check back at that time to see the names of the players for both teams who will be sitting the game out.
Johua Dobbs – It’s status quo with Dobbs right now. He was inactive for the Steelers first four regular season games and on Sunday he’ll be on the list of seven players once again. Barring an injury to quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Landry Jones, Dobbs will remain on the inactive list moving forward.
Daniel McCullers – Steelers starting defensive end Stephon Tuitt returned from his biceps injury in Week 4 and that resulted in McCullers returning to the team’s gameday inactive list. McCullers dressed for the two games that Tuitt missed. The Steelers normally only like to dress five defensive lineman in total so barring injury, McCullers will likely remain on the inactive list until needed again.
Marcus Gilbert – After ending the week listed as doubtful on the Steelers Friday injury report, Gilbert is now poised to be inactive for a third consecutive game on Sunday due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the team’s Week 2 game. Gilbert practiced fully on Wednesday but sat out the team’s Thursday and Friday sessions.
Jerald Hawkins – While Hawkins is now fully healthy, he’s seems to be behind fellow offensive lineman Matt Feiler in the pecking order. With it looking like Gilbert won’t be back on Sunday after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury, Hawkins might join him on the inactive list again this week. It’s either going to be him or Feiler.
Eli Rogers – Rogers was a healthy inactive for the Steelers Week 4 game and that resulted in fellow wide receiver Justin Hunter dressing for the first time this season. While Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin indicated on Tuesday that Rogers might be back in the lineup in Week 5 as the team’s backup slot receiver and punt returner, fellow wide receiver Antonio Brown reportedly said on Friday that he’ll be returning punts on Sunday against the Jaguars. One can only assume that Rogers will be a healthy scratch again in Week 5 being as Brown is set to return punts for the team. Does Martavis Bryant play a role in all this with him being questionable as of Saturday? He could, but I’ll guess he plays. If he doesn’t, Hunter and Rogers would both dress.
Brian Allen – The Steelers rookie cornerback dressed for a second time this season in Week 4 and that was a result of safety Mike Mitchell missing that game with a hamstring injury. With it now looking like Mitchell will return from his injury on Sunday against the Jaguars, Allen will more than likely find himself back on the inactive list again.
James Harrison – Harrison was inactive in Week 4 after ending the week on the team’s injury report with the questionable tag because of an illness. While Harrison appears to be over his illness now, he’s still a strong candidate to be scratched again Sunday against the Jaguars. All nine of the Steelers linebackers are currently healthy and with Harrison still seemingly buried on the outside linebacker chart behind Anthony Chickillo, in addition to him not be a special teams contributor, he’ll have a hard time getting a helmet.
