The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Indianapolis Colts on the road Monday night in their eleventh 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 Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Colts.
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 – It’s now been ten consecutive games that Rudolph hasn’t dressed for this season as part of him being the third-string quarterback on the Steelers’ depth chart. He’ll be inactive once again on Monday night against the Colts with him still buried behind quarterbacks Kenny Pickett and Mitchell Trubisky on the depth chart. Barring injuries to Pickett or Trubisky, Rudolph should remain the third-string quarterback so there’s a very good chance he’ll be inactive for the remainder of the team’s games.
CB Ahkello Witherspoon – Sadly, another no-brainer here with Witherspoon for yet another week as he is still sidelined with his hamstring injury. Witherspoon failed to practice all week and was finally officially ruled out for the Monday night game against the Colts on the team’s Saturday injury report. This will make the seventh game this season that Witherspoon has missed because of his hamstring injury. He initially injured it in the team’s Week 3 game and has dressed in just one game since then.
RB Jaylen Warren – Like Witherspoon Warren was ruled out on Saturday for the Monday night game against the Colts with a hamstring injury. Warren injured his hamstring early in the team’s Week 11 home game and did not return to that contest. He failed to practice all week due to his injury and it will result in him missing his first game of the 2022 season. With Warren sidelined, the Steelers elevated running back Anthony McFarland Jr. from the team’s practice squad on Monday. He’ll now dress as a depth piece behind starting running back Najee Harris.
G Kendrick Green – Like Rudolph, the Steelers have yet to have Green active for a game this season. The team has dressed eight of their nine total offensive linemen in their first ten games of the 2022 regular season and Green has been the odd one out in that position group for all those contests. The Steelers have Jesse Davis and J.C. Hassenauer as interior offensive linemen backups and they have been ahead of Green on the depth chart all season.
ILB Mark Robinson – Robinson has only been active for one game this season, the team’s Week 6 contest and that’s because the team had six players out for that contest due to injuries. The Steelers did have inside linebacker Robert Spillane on the team’s injury report as questionable with a back issue this past week. If Spillane can’t go Monday night, Robinson would get his helmet. That said, Spillane was not downgraded on Sunday so I think he winds up playing Monday night against the Colts.
CB Josh Jackson – Even with Witherspoon being sidelined, Jackson is finding it hard to get a gameday helmet and thus it certainly looks like that could be the case once again against the Colts on Monday night. The Steelers have been choosing to dress an extra defensive lineman the last few games with that honor going to defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk. Jackson’s time on the 53-man roster might come to an end soon and especially if Witherspoon can make it back from his hamstring injury.
WR Miles Boykin – The Steelers elevated wide receiver Cody White from the practice squad on Monday and that can be taken as a sign that Boykin might not be healthy enough to play against the Colts. Boykin ended the week as questionable on the injury report with an oblique injury. White can serve as a fifth wide receiver and play on some special teams units and probably as a gunner on punt coverage. The Steelers need seven inactive players Monday night so my guess is that Boykin will be on that list.
