The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the New York Jets Sunday afternoon on the road and if you’re like me, you’re counting down the hours until the game begins. As usual, I will attempt to project the seven inactives for every Steelers game of the 2019 season and below is my best guess as to which seven players won’t be given helmets Sunday at MetLife Field against the Jets.
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.
Zach Gentry – The Steelers look likely to get tight end Vance McDonald back from his concussion ion Sunday. McDonald, who missed the week 15 game, was not given a game status designation on the Friday injury report so that means he should play Sunday against the Jets. Assuming McDonald returns, Gentry, who dressed and played last week, should find himself back on the inactive once again.
Paxton Lynch – Lynch remains the Steelers No. 3 quarterback on the team’s depth chart and thus isn’t going to dress on Sunday against the Jets. Quarterback Devlin Hodges will start again on Sunday against the Jets with Mason Rudolph backing him up again once again. Lynch has dressed for just one game this season and that was way back in Week 6 when Rudolph was sidelined with a concussion.
Chukwuma Okorafor – The Steelers young tackle hasn’t been active for very many games this season and he isn’t likely to dress again on Sunday against the Jets. The last time Okorafor did dress for a game was way back in Week 10 against the Los Angeles Rams, a game he started. Expect him to be one of the team’s seven inactive players for a sixth-consecutive week on Sunday.
Tuzar Skipper – Skipper has been inactive for every game since returning to the Steelers 53-man roster in November and he’s not likely to begin dressing on Sunday against the Jets. With outside linebackers Anthony Chickillo and Olasunkanmi Adeniyi both still healthy and serving as backups and special teams contributors per the norm, look for Skipper to once again be one of the team’s seven inactive players.
Artie Burns – Burns hasn’t dressed for the Steelers last four games and the last two of those he was a healthy scratch as rookie cornerback Justin Layne was given a helmet over him. Burns missed a day of practice this past week with an illness and that certainly won’t help his cause when it comes to his chances of getting a helmet on Sunday against the Jets.
Isaiah Buggs – The Steelers rookie defensive lineman was a surprise healthy scratch in Week 15 as the team uncharacteristically dressed just four defensive linemen. With a seemingly very healthy 53-man roster this week, it might be hard for Buggs to get a helmet once again on Sunday against the Jets. Look for the sixth-round selection to be inactive against the Jets.
Trey Edmunds – The Steelers quickly and surprisingly signed wide receiver Amara Darboh off their practice squad on Monday and early speculation from some media members is that he will dress and play on Sunday against the Jets. If that’s what transpires, either a wide receiver or running back will likely be the seventh inactive player. With running back James Conner now back and expected to get a bigger workload on Sunday, we could see fellow running back Benny Snell Jr. go back to doing more in all four special teams phases. If that’s what transpires, Edmunds, who has played a lot on special teams since being promoted from the practice squad earlier in the season, could find himself on the inactive list Sunday afternoon. There’s no guarantee that Darboh will dress, however, so it won’t be a surprise if he’s inactive so that Edmunds can get a helmet.
