The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Baltimore Ravens 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 M&T Bank Stadium against the Ravens.
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.
James Conner – In just his second game back from a shoulder injury last Sunday, Conner suffered a quad injury in the second quarter of the team’s game against the New York Jets and it kept him sidelined the remainder of it. Conner failed to practice any this past week and on Friday he was finally ruled out for the Sunday game against the Ravens on the team’s injury report. This will mark the sixth game this season that Conner has missed due to an injury.
Maurkice Pouncey – Pouncey was ruled out for the Steelers Sunday game against the Ravens on the Friday injury report due to a knee injury that he suffered against the Jets that prevented him from practicing all week. While Pouncey won’t play on Sunday against the Ravens, at least it appears as though his knee injury isn’t extremely serious in nature. Sunday will mark the third game that Pouncey has missed this season as he also missed two others in Weeks 12 and 13 due to a suspension. With Pouncey out on Sunday, look for B.J. Finney to start at center and for center J.C. Hassenauer to also be active.
Chukwuma Okorafor – Okorafor is likely to close out the 2019 regular season on the Steelers inactive list, a regular spot for him this season. The Steelers generally only dress seven offensive linemen for games and with Hassenauer needing to dress to back up Finney at center with Pouncey sidelined by injury, Okorafor is likely to be the odd man out once again. Okorafor has dressed for just three games this season.
Tuzar Skipper – Skipper has yet to dress for a game since arriving back with the Steelers and there’s no sign that he’ll avoid the inactive list again on Sunday against the Ravens. Skipper returned to the Steelers 53-man roster in November and 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.
Zach Gentry – The Steelers got tight end Vance McDonald back from his concussion last Sunday and that resulted in Gentry going back to the inactive list. The Steelers current health at the tight end position should result in Gentry once again being inactive Sunday afternoon against the Ravens. Gentry has dressed for just four games this season.
Artie Burns – Burns hasn’t dressed for the Steelers last five games and the last three he was a healthy scratch as rookie cornerback Justin Layne has been given a helmet over him. Sunday will likely be Burns’ last game in a Steelers uniform barring the team making the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the AFC.
Amara Darboh – The Steelers signed Darboh off their practice squad to start Week 16 but chose not to dress him last Sunday against the Jets. With fellow wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster off the injury report, Darboh should again find himself on the Steelers list of seven inactive players Sunday afternoon against the Ravens.
