The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Cincinnati Bengals on the road on Sunday afternoon, and it is their eleventh 2023 regular-season game. 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 2023 season. Below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets against the Browns on Sunday at Paycor Stadium.
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 newer roster rules make this exercise even harder as teams can elevate up to two players from their practice squads to their active roster for gamedays. Teams also can dress up to 48 players for games if eight offensive linemen are dressed. The emergency quarterback rule is also back in place for the 2023 season.
QB Mason Rudolph – Rudolph has now dressed for all ten previous games so far this season and in each one he has been designated as the team’s inactive emergency third quarterback. He still remains the third-string quarterback on the depth chart in Week 12 and because of that, look for him to once again be listed as inactive on Sunday against the Bengals with the emergency QB designation. As usual, Mitch Trubisky is once again expected to back up starter Kenny Pickett on Sunday versus the Bengals. The last time that Rudolph was not inactive for a regular season game was in Week 15 of the 2022 season, but he did not play in that contest.
S Minkah Fitzpatrick – In Week Eleven, Fitzpatrick was inactive for the third time this season as he missed that Sunday contest with his hamstring injury. Fitzpatrick was unable to practice any this past week once again and that ultimately resulted in him being officially ruled out for the team’s Sunday road game against the Bengals on the Friday injury report. Fitzpatrick originally injured his hamstring early during the team’s Week Eight game.
DT Montravius Adams – After suffering an ankle injury early in the team’s Week Nine home game, Adams has not played since as he’s been inactive the last two games. While Adams was able to at least practice on a limited basis this past week, he was ultimately ruled out for Sunday’s road game against the Bengals on the team’s Friday injury report. This will mark the third game this season that Adams has missed and it should result in Armon Watts once again getting a helmet on Sunday.
T Dylan Cook – So far this season, Cook has only dressed for one game and that was back in Week Five and only due to injuries on the offensive line. He did not, however, see any playing time in that one game that he has dressed for. The Steelers normally only dress eight offensive linemen in total and that figures to be the case once again on Sunday against the Bengals. So far this season, rookie offensive lineman Spencer Anderson has been getting the nod over Cook and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue on Sunday on the road against the Bengals.
RB Godwin Igwebuike – The Steelers activated RB Anthony McFarland Jr. from the team’s Reserve/Injured list a few weeks ago and he’s since dressed for every game and been the team’s kickoff returner and third string running back. Since McFarland returned, Igwebuike has been on the weekly inactive list and that’s not a bit surprising. We figure to see a repeat of that on Sunday against the Bengals so look for Igwebuike to once again wind up being listed on the team’s inactive list.
ILB Blake Martinez – This sixth and final inactive prediction is tough and especially with CB James Pierre ending Friday listed as questionable on the team’s injury report. Pierre, however, was not downgraded on Saturday and he has played through the questionable tag once before this season. On top of this, the Steelers elevated ILB Tariq Carpenter to the Active/Inactive roster on Saturday and he now figures to dress on Sunday. No safety, however, was elevated.
Assuming Pierre plays on Sunday, the final inactive could come down to Martinez and CB Darius Rush. However, with the Steelers being down a safety right now, it would make sense to have Pierre and Rush both dress on Sunday. Martinez also might not yet be up top speed just yet after being signed off the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers earlier in the week. Based on all of the above, I guess that Martinez is inactive on Sunday.
