The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon on the road, the team’s sixth regular-season game of 2024. 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 2024 season and below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets on Sunday afternoon against the Raiders.
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. The 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 can also dress up to 48 players for games if eight offensive linemen are dressed. The emergency quarterback rule is also still in place for the 2024 season.
TE MyCole Pruitt – Pruitt, who played in the Steelers’ first two regular season games, was once again officially ruled out for the Steelers’ Week 6 road game against the Raiders on the team’s Friday injury report due to a knee injury sustained late in the team’s Week 2 road game. Pruitt, however, was able to practice on a limited basis all three days this past week, and that’s a positive sign for his rehab.
With Pruitt sidelined for a fourth consecutive game on Sunday, we can probably count on backup TE Rodney Williams dressing again to help on special teams. In short, there’s a good chance Pruitt will resume practicing fully at some point next week, and that could ultimately result in him playing in Week 7. For the present, however, he won’t play on Sunday in Las Vegas.
RB Cordarrelle Patterson – An ankle injury sustained during the team’s Week 4 game will once again prevent Patterson from playing Sunday afternoon against the Raiders, as the team officially ruled him out for that contest on the Friday injury report. Patterson was once again unable to practice this past week. This will mark the second game this season that he has missed.
With Patterson sidelined on Sunday afternoon, look for RB Aaron Shampklin to once again get a helmet to serve as a backup behind RB Najee Harris and RB Jaylen Warren, who is expected to return from his knee injury against the Raiders. It’s too early to speculate if Patterson might be able to return to action in Week 7, as ankle injuries can be tough to overcome, especially for an older player such as Patterson. Patterson’s kickoff return unit duties will likely be handled on Sunday afternoon by either Warren or Shampklin.
OLB Alex Highsmith – Like Pruitt and Patterson, Highsmith was also officially ruled out for Sunday’s road game against the Raiders on the team’s Friday injury report. Highsmith sustained a groin injury during the team’s Week 3 home game, preventing him from finishing that contest. That injury prevented him from playing in the last two games so this will mark the third contest this season he’s missed.
This past week, Highsmith was able to practice on a limited basis on Thursday and Friday after sitting out the Wednesday session. Hopefully, he can continue practicing next week in some capacity as well, with the end result of him returning to action in Week 7. The Steelers are hurting at the outside linebacker position due to several injuries, so hopefully, Highsmith will be able to get back soon.
OLB Nick Herbig – The Steelers will be without Herbig on Sunday against the Raiders as the second-year outside linebacker will miss the Week 6 contest due to a hamstring injury sustained during the team’s Week 5 game. Herbig was unable to practice this past week, resulting in him being officially ruled out for the Week 6 game on the team’s Friday injury report. There’s probably a decent chance that Herbig will miss more than just one game with his hamstring injury, but time will obviously tell.
With both Highsmith and Herbig sidelined on Sunday by injuries, the Steelers signed linebacker Ade Ogundeji from the practice squad to the 53-man roster on Saturday in addition to elevating OLB Eku Leota to the gameday Active/Inactive roster from the practice squad. Ogundeji and Leota should both be active on Sunday against the Raiders.
S Damontae Kazee – An ankle injury sustained in Week 5 will prevent Kazee from playing on Sunday against the Raiders in Las Vegas. While Kazee was able to play 17 defensive snaps in last Sunday’s contest, his ankle injury ultimately prevented him from practicing any this past week. The team officially ruled Kazee out for their Week 6 Sunday road game on the Friday injury report.
With Kazee sidelined, S Terrell Edmunds figures to receive a lot more playing time on Sunday against the Raiders. Kazee’s limited special teams role will also need to be filled. The fact that Kazee wasn’t placed on the Reserve/Injured list on Saturday is likely a great sign overall, as it means there’s a good chance that he won’t miss three more regular-season games with his recent ankle injury.
G Max Scharping – As expected, Scharping, who was signed off the practice squad of the Washington Commanders a little more than a week ago, was inactive for the team’s Week 5 Sunday night home game against the Cowboys. The Steelers dressed eight offensive linemen for that contest, leaving Scharping as the odd one out.
The Steelers are once again expected to dress just eight offensive linemen on Sunday against the Raiders. That list of players should include Dan Moore Jr., Isaac Seumalo, Zach Frazier, Mason McCormick, Broderick Jones, Spencer Anderson, Ryan McCollum, and Calvin Anderson. Assuming that’s the eight who get helmets, Scharping should be inactive for a second consecutive game.
QB Kyle Allen – With QB Russell Wilson finally expected to be healthy enough to dress on Sunday against the Raiders as the backup to QB Justin Fields, look for Allen to be the team’s third-string emergency quarterback in Las Vegas. Allen had been active for the team’s first five regular season games due to Wilson being sidelined with a calf injury. Allen only saw action in one game that he was active for, and that happened last Sunday night in the home game against the Cowboys. He played just two snaps in that contest and completed his lone pass attempt for 19 yards.
With Wilson now healthy, there’s a good chance that Allen will become a regular on the weekly gameday inactive list, barring any injuries. Allen should be in uniform Sunday against the Raiders, and the only way he can enter that contest would be if both Fields and Wilson were to get injured and be ruled out for the game.
