What an emotional rollercoaster for a bye week, injury wise. Going into the bye, only Antonio Brown and BJ Finney were supposed to be the only injured players working their way back to health. Then practice happened on Wednesday...
Artie Burns (Knee/hyperextension), Stephon Tuitt (Elbow in a sling), and Javon Hargrave (Back) all didn’t practice on Thursday, throwing the status of the Steeler defense in doubt. Fortunately, all 3 returned to practice and none of them have been given an injury designation, so all of them should play.
Finney also practiced fully and is without designation, so he should get a hat to backup the interior linemen. AB practiced fully on Wednesday and Thursday, but failed to practice Friday. We learned today from Coach Tomlin that Brown’s absence was not due to his calf, but he was asked to stay home with the flu, so he wouldn’t spread it to his teammates. Brown is the only player listed on the injury report, and he’s listed as questionable.
I update the Injury/Suspension/Inactive/Fine spreadsheet daily. Bookmark it to track the status for the Steelers each week. Click HERE
There will be 7 inactive players for the game this week. I believe they will be:
1. Josh Dobbs: Healthy Scratch/ 3rd QB. After his first week being an active player, he’s back to the third string, learning from the sideline.
2. Justin Hunter: Antonio Brown is listed as questionable, but I think he will play. As a result, one of the receivers have to sit, and Hunter has been the 6th for the second half of the season.
3. Matt Feiler: The offensive line is healthy and intact. Matt should be on the sidelines for this game.
4. Dan McCullers: The entire DL is healthy and ready to play, that usually means Big Dan doesn’t.
5. Jerald Hawkins: The Steelers haven’t sat two healthy offensive linemen since week 10 (not counting resting pro bowlers against Cleveland). This week the line is the healthiest it has been this season. Chris Hubbard is the better blocking option in extra linemen sets and will backup both tackle spots.
6. JJ Wilcox was inactive for the past three weeks, and should be inactive again this week.
7. Xavier Grimble has been active since week 6, so picking him to be inactive is a bit outside of the norm. This week there are healthier receiving options at tight end and Hubbard is the extra blocker, so no need for 3 TE sets. This last inactive will be between X-man and Coty Sensabaugh. I feel since Burns had a scare in practice, they will keep Coty active as an emergency option.
Week 18 I went 6 for 7. Bringing my yearly total to 103/120. Everyone is healthy, so picking inactives this week presents a new challenge, but it is best for the fans to have everyone healthy!
