The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Cleveland Browns on the road on Sunday afternoon, and it is their tenth 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 Cleveland Browns 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 dressed for all nine 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 11 and because of that, look for him to once again be listed as inactive on Sunday against the Browns with the emergency QB designation. As usual, Mitch Trubisky is once again expected to back up starter Kenny Pickett on Sunday versus the Browns. 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 Ten, Fitzpatrick was inactive for the second time this season as he missed that Sunday contest with a 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 Browns on the Friday injury report. The hope is that Fitzpatrick might be able to return in Week Twelve. He injured his hamstring early during the team’s Week Eight game.
DT Montravius Adams – Early in the team’s Week Nine home game, Adams sustained an ankle injury and that prevented him from playing in Week Ten. This past week, Adams was once again unable to practice any, and that resulted in him once again being officially being ruled out for the team’s Sunday’s road game against the Browns on the Friday injury report. This will mark the second game this season that Adams has missed and with him sidelined on Sunday. With Adams out again, look for DT Armon Watts to once again be active just as was the case in Week Ten.
T Dylan Cook – Cook has only dressed for one game so far this season and that was back in Week Five and only due to injuries. He did not, however, see any playing time in that lone 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 Browns. 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 Browns.
RB Godwin Igwebuike – The Steelers activated RB Anthony McFarland Jr. from the team’s Reserve/Injured list this last week and he ultimately was active for the Week Ten game over Igwebuike. We figure to see a repeat of that on Sunday against the Browns so look for Igwebuike to once again wind up being listed on the team’s inactive list. Igwebuike will be hard-pressed to keep his roster spot for the remainder of the season.
CB Darius Rush – The Steelers made several transactions on Saturday afternoon with two of those being weekend elevations. As a result of that, the three players added on Saturday are now expected to dress and play on Sunday against the Browns. That also means that the Steelers will need six inactive players on Sunday with S Keanu Neal being placed on the Reserve/injured list on Saturday. The Steelers are likely to dress just nine total defensive backs on Sunday against the Browns and if that’s indeed what winds up happening, look for Rush to be one of the six inactive players just like last week.
