The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Arizona Cardinals at home on Sunday afternoon, and it is their twelfth 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 Cardinals on Sunday at Acrisure 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 still remains the third-string quarterback on the depth chart in Week 13 and because of that, look for him to once again be listed as inactive on Sunday against the Cardinals with the emergency QB designation. Rudolph has now dressed for all eleven previous games so far this season and in each one he has been designated as the team’s inactive emergency quarterback. As usual, Mitch Trubisky is once again expected to back up starter Kenny Pickett on Sunday versus the Cardinals. 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.
T Dylan Cook – Like Rudolph, Cook has been a regular on the inactive list this season. 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 are expected to only dress eight offensive linemen in total on Sunday against the Cardinals with rookie offensive lineman Spencer Anderson getting the nod again over Cook.
CB Darius Rush – The Steelers should have S Minkah Fitzpatrick back on Sunday against the Cardinals after having missed the last four games with a hamstring injury. With Fitzpatrick back, the Steelers are likely to dress a total of nine defensive backs. While Rush did get a helmet last Sunday, he only logged nine total defensive snaps in that Week 12 contest and just three others on special teams. Rush has only been active for two games since arriving in Pittsburgh and both were with Fitzpatrick sidelined. Look for Rush to be inactive on Sunday against the Cardinals barring a surprise.
RB Anthony McFarland Jr. – Last week, McFarland was a healthy scratch on the inactive list and that was a bit of a surprise. The Steelers chose to dress RB Godwin Igwebuike over McFarland last Sunday and he wound up logging 14 total special teams snaps in that contest. As part of that special teams work last Sunday, Igwebuike served as the kickoff returner once again. This one could go either way but with McFarland not offering much in the way of special teams help other than being a kick returner, we’re likely to see him inactive again on Sunday against the Cardinals.
ILB Blake Martinez – The Steelers have yet to allow Martinez to dress for a game since he arrived in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. Thanks to the Saturday elevation of ILB Kyron Johnson from the team’s practice squad to the Active/Inactive roster, it certainly seems like Martinez is destined to be inactive again on Sunday against the Cardinals. Johnson was likely elevated to help out on special teams on Sunday. While Martinez has played on special teams during his NFL career, 2019 was the last season he saw considerable playing time in that phase of the game. So, look for Johnson to be active on Sunday against the Cardinals instead of Martinez.
DT Montravius Adams – After suffering an ankle injury early in the team’s Week Nine home game, Adams has not played since. He was, however, able to practice fully on Wednesday and Thursday of this past before only going limited on Friday. Unfortunately, Adams ended the week listed as questionable after initially looking like he would avoid a game status designation at the start of the week. Was he limited on Friday as a precaution, or did he have a setback with his ankle? It’s hard to say for sure. I’m going to guess that Adams entering the weekend listed as questionable results in him missing Sunday’s game against the Cardinals.
