The Pittsburgh Steelers play the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night at home, the team’s 17th and final regular-season game of 2024. If you’re like me, you’re counting down the hours until the game begins. I 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 Saturday night against the Bengals.
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 out the game. 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 among them. The emergency quarterback rule is also still in place for the 2024 season.
QB Kyle Allen – The Steelers are expected to have backup QB Justin Fields back from his abdominal injury on Saturday night against the Bengals as he entered the weekend off the team’s injury report. Assuming that’s the case, Allen should go back to being the team’s emergency third quarterback on the inactive list, a spot he has manned several times so far this season.
In total, Allen has been active for eight games so far this season as the team’s primary backup to the starter. He played in just one of those eight games and logged just two offensive snaps in total. The other eight games that Allen was not active for he was the team’s emergency third quarterback for.
Allen will dress Saturday night against the Bengals but can only enter the game should starting QB Russell Wilson and Fields both be ruled out of the contest due to injuries.
WR Scotty Miller – The Steelers are set to have WR Ben Skowronek back for the Saturday night game against the Bengals after he missed the Week 17 contest with a hip injury. The return of Skowronek Saturday night, which will be a big boost for special teams, should result in Miller being the odd one out at the wide receiver position.
Miller has already been a healthy inactive scratch a few times this season with the last instance coming in Week 13. The Steelers active wide receivers against the Bengals are expected to get WR George Pickens, Calvin Austin III, Van Jefferson, Mike Williams, and Skowronek.
OLB Preston Smith – The Steelers had Smith on the inactive list as a healthy scratch in Week 17 and that was the first time that’s happened since the team acquired him via a trade earlier in the season. The Steelers chose to dress OLB Jeremiah Moon over Smith in Week 18 and likely for special teams reasons.
With the Steelers having their top three outside linebackers in T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig all healthy for Saturday night, look for Smith to once again be a healthy scratch and thus one of five players on the team’s pregame inactive list. There just aren’t enough helmets to go around this week for Smith to get one.
DT Dean Lowry – Like Smith, Lowry was a healthy scratch in Week 17 and thus was one of the team’s five inactive players for that contest. The Steelers had DL Larry Ogunjobi back from his groin injury in Week 17 and that was the reason for Lowry being a heathy scratch.
All other defensive linemen on the Steelers 53-man roster are healthy heading into Saturday night and the result of that should be Lowry being inactive as a healthy scratch for a second consecutive game.
Lowry has been inactive for four games, including the first two of the regular season. He was inactive for the Week 13 home game in addition to Week 17 as well. He played in several games this season due to injuries to other defensive linemen, including DT Montravius Adams, who returned from his knee injury in Week 15.
CB Donte Jackson – This last spot is very tough to decipher as to which player it might be, mainly because Jackson entered the weekend listed as questionable with a back issue. He was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday after beginning the week not on the injury report. Jackson has already missed one game this season with that same back issue. That game was back in Week 16. He had ended that week listed as questionable on the injury report as well.
Overall, it sounds like Jackson might be a game-time decision as to whether he plays against the Bengals. In short, it sounds like a coin flip. The Steelers have had at least one cornerback on the inactive list since Week 14. It feels like they will have another one inactive on Saturday night. The choices are likely either Jackson or Cory Trice Jr.. Should, however, the Steelers choose to dress both Jackson and Trice, I suppose we could see backup TE MyCole Pruitt wind up being inactive.
Obviously, I am not confident about this final spot prediction so don’t be surprised if Trice winds up inactive. This last spot likely depends on how Jackson looks and feels 90 minutes before kickoff.
