The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Seattle Seahawks on the road on Sunday afternoon, and it is their 16th 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 Seahawks on Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field.
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 dressing. The emergency quarterback rule is also back in place for the 2023 season.
S Minkah Fitzpatrick – The Steelers will once again not have Fitzpatrick on Sunday against the Seahawks due to a knee injury that the safety sustained in the team’s Week 15 game. Fitzpatrick already missed four games earlier in the season due to a hamstring injury, so this will mark his sixth missed contest of the season. He was ruled out this week on the injury report on Friday. The Steelers are once again hurting at the safety position heading into their week 17 Sunday road game against the Seahawks.
S Trenton Thompson – Like Fitzpatrick, Thompson, also a safety, will once again miss the team’s Sunday road game against the Seahawks due to an injury. Thompson suffered a stinger in Week 15, and it was labeled as a neck injury on the report again this past week. He was unable to practice some this past week but was unable to go in the Friday session. The Steelers officially ruled him out for Sunday’s contest on the Friday injury report. This will mark the second game that Thompson has missed this season since being added to the 53-man roster several weeks ago.
ILB Elandon Roberts – A pectoral injury sustained in the first half of the team’s Week 16 home game will result in Roberts being on the inactive list this week. He was unable to practice this past week and, like Fitzpatrick and Thompson, was officially ruled for the Sunday contest on the Friday injury report. With Roberts unable to play on Sunday, look for Blake Martinez to dress for just the second time since joining the Steelers. The Steelers also elevated ILB Myles Jack from the practice squad on Saturday.
QB Kenny Pickett – Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field will likely mark the fourth game this season that Pickett has missed as the team’s starting quarterback, as he is not expected to play against the Seahawks due to an ankle injury that he sustained in the first half of the Week 13 game. Pickett had ankle surgery several weeks ago and that resulted in him being sidelined ever since. Pickett, however, was able to practice on a limited basis this past week, and he ended Friday listed as questionable on the injury report. With Pickett likely sidelined again on Sunday afternoon, Mason Rudolph should start at quarterback for the Steelers against the Seahawks, with Mitch Trubisky likely serving as his backup. Pickett might be listed as the inactive No. 3 emergency QB this week. We’ll see.
OT Dylan Cook – For a better part of this season, the Steelers have made a habit out of having Cook on their inactive list for games and that should be the case on Sunday once again. Cook has only dressed for one game so far this season, and that was only due to other injuries on the Steelers offensive line. The Steelers have been rolling with rookie offensive lineman Spencer Anderson as an active player over Cook this season, and there’s no reason to think that won’t be the case again on Sunday against the Seahawks at Lumen Field.
CB Darius Rush – Rush returned to the inactive list for the last several weeks. While the Steelers are once again still hurting at the safety position this week, that still might not be enough of a reason to give Rush a helmet on Sunday, especially due to the Saturday transactions that the team made. The Steelers will need to have seven inactive players on Sunday, and that figures to result in Rush being included on that list once again.
DE DeMarvin Leal – The Steelers are likely to have at least one defensive lineman inactive on Sunday against the Seahawks, and if indeed that’s the case, it should be either Leal or Isaiahh Loudermilk. Last Saturday, Loudermilk got the helmet over Leal. Which way will it go this week? It’s extremely hard to tell, quite honestly. Loudermilk has been the better player of the two as of late so he should get the helmet again over Leal. At least, that is what I am predicting to happen.
