The Pittsburgh Steelers play the Los Angeles Chargers on the road on Sunday night, and if you’re like me, you’re counting down the hours until the 8:20 PM/EST contest begins. As usual, I will project the Steelers’ inactives for every game of the 2025 season, and below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets against the Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Game inactives are announced 90 minutes before kickoff, so check back then to see which players from both teams will be sitting out the game. Roster rules make this exercise even harder, as teams can elevate up to two players from their practice squad to their active roster for game days. Also, teams can dress up to 48 players for games if eight are offensive linemen. The emergency quarterback rule remains in place for the 2025 season.
WR Scotty Miller – An injury will once again prevent Miller from playing on Sunday night as the veteran wide receiver will miss a third consecutive contest because of a finger issue that he sustained during practice ahead of the team’s Week 8 game. Miller has since had that injured finger repaired. However, he failed to practice this past week. The Steelers officially ruled out Miller for the Week 10 road game against the Chargers on the team’s Friday injury report.
Sunday night in Los Angeles will mark the third game this season that Miller has missed. Miller registered one catch for 9 yards in the team’s first six games, and he has logged 69 total offensive snaps played this season to go along with four special teams snaps. The Steelers will once again dress WR Ke’Shawn Williams with Miller sidelined with his finger injury.
S Jabrill Peppers – Like Miller, Peppers also won’t play Sunday night against the Chargers as the veteran safety will miss the Week 10 road contest with a quad injury. Peppers was officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Chargers on the team’s Friday injury report after failing to practice at all this past week.
Peppers seemingly injured his calf a few weeks ago, and during a practice at that. Sunday night in Los Angeles will mark the second time this season that Peppers has been on the inactive list since signing with the team back in Week 2. With Peppers sidelined, new safety Kyle Dugger is expected to dress and play against the Chargers. The Steelers are also expected to play Jalen Ramsey more at safety Sunday night as well. Veteran safeties Chuck Clark and Juan Thornhill will also be available for the contest in Los Angeles.
ILB Cole Holcomb – Like Miller and Peppers, Holcomb will also miss the Sunday night road game against the Chargers. He is still dealing with an unspecified illness that has resulted in his failing to practice this past week. Holcomb popped up on the Steelers’ injury report a week ago Thursday as a non-practice participant due to an illness. He then proceeded not to practice again last Friday. The team listed Holcomb initially as questionable on their injury report last Friday before ultimately downgrading him to out last Saturday.
This week, Holcomb was listed as out on the injury report on Friday. This obviously means that Holcomb will once again be on the Sunday night pregame inactive list as well. Sunday night will mark the second game this season that Holcomb has missed. In the first seven regular-season games, Holcomb logged 151 total defensive snaps and 72 more on special teams. With Holcomb sidelined for Sunday night, the Steelers elevated ILB Mark Robinson from the team’s practice squad on Saturday, and he’s now expected to dress and play on special teams on Sunday night against the Chargers.
G Isaac Seumalo – The Steelers unfortunately won’t have Seumalo on Sunday night against the Chargers as the starting left guard will miss that contest in Los Angeles due to a pectoral injury. That injury, which Seumalo has seemingly been dealing with for the last few weeks, prevented him from practicing this past week.
Seumalo failed to finish the last two games played by the Steelers due to his lingering pectoral injury. With Seumalo sidelined Sunday night, Spencer Anderson is expected to start in his place at left guard against the Chargers. Seumalo being inactive on Sunday night should also result in veteran OL Andrus Peat being active for the first time this season. Peat might be asked to serve as the team’s extra offensive lineman in jumbo packages on Sunday night as well.
DL Logan Lee – The Steelers have had Lee as a healthy scratch on the team’s inactive list for the last four games, and thus it wouldn’t be surprising to see him on the Sunday night list as well. The Steelers signed DT Brodric Martin-Rhodes to their 53-man roster this past week, and the former member of the Kansas City Chiefs might not dress along with Lee.
Martin-Rhodes is more of a bigger plugger in the middle of the defensive line than Lee is. Should one of the two between Lee and Martin-Rhodes ultimately get a helmet Sunday night, it likely won’t be the former. The Steelers also recently lost DT Daniel Ekuale for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury, and that is yet another reason why Martin-Rhodes was signed off the Chiefs’ practice squad this past week. The Steelers have also recently chosen to dress DT Esezi Otomewo over Lee in the last several games, and that trend might continue on Sunday night.
DT Brodric Martin-Rhodes – The Steelers will need seven inactive players on Sunday night, and with Martin-Rhodes being a newcomer to the team this past week, he just might find himself as a healthy scratch in Los Angeles. The Steelers signed Martin-Rhodes off the Chiefs’ practice squad this past week, and his first practice with the team did not happen until Thursday.
The Steelers only dressed five true defensive linemen in Week 9, and we could see a repeat of that again on Sunday night against the Chargers. Should Martin-Rhodes ultimately get a helmet against the Chargers, it could come at the expense of Otomewo. Should the Steelers ultimately dress six defensive linemen on Sunday night, one of two running backs, Kaleb Johnson or Trey Sermon, might slot in at the final inactive list spot.
Recommended for you