The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Miami Dolphins on the road on Sunday night in their seventh game of the 2022 regular season and if you’re like me, you’re counting down the hours until the game begins. As usual, I will attempt to project the Steelers inactives for every game of the 2022 season and below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium against the Dolphins.
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. Also, the new roster rules make this exercise even harder as team’s can elevate up to two players from their practice squads to their active roster for gamedays. Team’s also can dress up to 48 players for games if eight offensive linemen are dressed.
QB Mason Rudolph – As expected, Rudolph has yet to be active through the first six weeks of the 2022 regular season as he has been the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart behind starter Kenny Pickett and backup Mitch Trubisky. Pickett will start Sunday night after clearing concussion protocol this week. No changes were made to the depth chart this week at the quarterback position so Rudolph should remain a gameday inactive for the foreseeable future. With the annual trade deadline now just a few weeks away, it will be interesting to see if the team trades Rudolph. As of right now, however, there are no indications that they will.
WR Steven Sims – Unfortunately for Sims, he was ruled out on the Friday injury report for the team’s Sunday night road game against the Dolphins due to a hamstring injury. Sims failed to practice all week due to that injury and he will now be inactive for the first time since Week 4. With Sims out, fellow wide receiver Gunner Olszewski is expected to handle all return duties on Sunday night against the Dolphins.
CB Ahkello Witherspoon – The Steelers ended Friday with Witherspoon listed as doubtful on the team’s Week 7 injury report due to a hamstring injury that he sustained during the Week 3 game. Witherspoon was not upgraded on Saturday so this should make a fourth consecutive game missed for Witherspoon. The hope is that he will be able to return in Week 8 as he did practice some this past week. With Witherspoon out again, cornerback Josh Jackson, who became a member of the 53-man roster last Saturday, figures to dress and play on Sunday night against the Dolphins.
G Kendrick Green – As has been the case all season, the Steelers have dressed eight of their nine total offensive linemen in their first six games and Green has been the odd man out in that position group for all those contests. That’s not likely to change on Sunday night against the Dolphins so you can expect Green to once again be one of the team’s inactive players. The Steelers have had Jesse Davis essentially serving as the backup swing guard so far this season with Trent Scott serving as the top swing tackle. Additionally, J.C. Hassenauer remains the team’s top backup at the center position. Barring injuries on the offensive line going forward, expect Green to continue to be inactive for several more games this season.
ILB Mark Robinson – In Week 6, Robinson dressed for the first time this season and the 2022 seventh round draft pick played all of five snaps on special teams in that home contest. Robinson was able to get a helmet last Sunday due to other defensive players missing that Week 6 home game due to injuries. With several of those previously injured players now back for the Sunday night game against the Dolphins, it’s a good bet that Robinson will return to the inactive list once again.
