The Pittsburgh Steelers play the Cincinnati Bengals at home on Sunday afternoon, and if you’re like me, you’re counting down the hours until the 1:00 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 Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
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.
QB Will Howard – The Steelers activated Howard from the Reserve/Injured list to the team’s 53-man roster this past week and that decision came prior to his 21-day practice window closing. Howard, who has been on the Reserve/Injured list all season, will finally dress on Sunday for the first time this season, albeit as the team’s inactive emergency third string quarterback.
Technically, Howard will be inactive on Sunday, but he can enter the game against the Bengals should the team’s top two quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph, both leave that contest with injuries that prevent them from returning. In short, don’t expect Howard to do anything beyond warming up pregame. With Howard now on the 53-man roster, expect him to be a regular inactive on the weekly list and listed as the emergency third quarterback.
CB Darius Slay – The Steelers will be without Slay on Sunday against the Bengals as the veteran cornerback was officially ruled out for that contest on Friday’s injury report due to a concussion that he sustained during the team’s Week 10 game. Slay apparently never cleared concussion protocol this past week and even after practicing on a limited basis on Friday. That limited session came on the heels of Slay sitting out the Wednesday and Thursday practices.
With Slay out this week, the Steelers decided to elevate CB D’Shawn Jamison from the practice squad on Saturday. That means he should dress and play on Sunday against the Bengals and mainly on special teams.
OLB Alex Highsmith – A pectoral injury will unfortunately prevent Highsmith from playing on Sunday against the Bengals. That pectoral injury also prevented Highsmith from practicing any this past week and thus resulted in him being officially ruled out for Sunday’s home game on the team’s Friday injury report.
Sunday will mark the third game this season that Highsmith has missed due to an injury. He missed two games earlier in the season due to ankle injury. For the season, Highsmith has registered 5.5 sacks to go along with 24 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, one pass defensed, and one forced fumble.
ILB Cole Holcomb – Sadly, Holcomb will miss the Sunday afternoon home game against the Bengals as he is still on the road back from dealing with an unspecified illness. Holcomb, who will miss as third consecutive game on Sunday, at least he was able to practice some this past week. He was listed as a limited participant on Thursday after failing to practice on Wednesday.
On Friday, the Steelers officially ruled Holcomb out for the team’s Sunday home game against the Bengals on the Friday injury report., That status was given after Holcomb failed to participate in practice on Friday. With Holcomb sidelined once again, ILB Malik Harrison is expected to dress and play again on Sunday. The Steelers will also have four other inside linebackers on Sunday in Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, Mark Robinson, and rookie Carson Bruener. Robinson was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday.
G Isaac Seumalo – The Steelers did not have Seumalo for the team’s Week 10 game as the starting left guard missed that contest in Los Angeles due to a pectoral injury. That injury, which Seumalo has seemingly been dealing with for the last few weeks, once again impacted his practice ability this past week. In total, Seumalo practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday and Thursday but failed to practice on Friday. He was officially listed as questionable on the team’s Friday injury report.
At this point, it’s hard to predict whether Seumalo will play on Sunday against the Bengals. My gut tells me to predict that he won’t. If that is indeed the case, OL Andrus Peat would likely once again get a helmet against the Bengals. Should, however, Seumalo wind up being active on Sunday, we very well could see Peat back on the inactive list.
DT Brodric Martin-Rhodes – The Steelers will need seven inactive players on Sunday and with Martin-Rhodes not dressing in Week 10, his first week with the team, it seems like there’s a good chance he will once again be a healthy scratch against the Bengals on Sunday.
The Steelers could obviously decide to dress Martin-Rhodes instead of DL Logan Lee on Sunday. Lee, however, has been with the team longer and is a former draft pick. Lee might also be able to help out some on special teams on Sunday against the Bengals.
WR Ke’Shawn Williams – This last inactive spot is a tricky one to predict and especially with WR Scotty Miller expected to return to action on Sunday against the Bengals. Miller missed the last few games with a broken finger and this week he entered the weekend without a game-status designation.
Another reason for choosing Williams to be inactive relates to his muff on a punt return opportunity late in the Week 10 game. That muff, which resulted in a turnover, seemed to get Williams in the doghouse of HC Mike Tomlin. Williams isn’t much of a special teams asset outside of serving as a returner, so that’s yet another reason he might be inactive on Sunday and especially if WR Calvin Austin III is deemed healthy enough to resume returning punts. In case you’re curious, Williams has played just four offensive snaps since he was added to the 53-man roster. The Steelers really don’t need six wide receivers in helmets on Sunday.
Related Items:Alex Highsmith, Brodric Martin-Rhodes, Cincinnati Bengals, Cole Holcomb, Darius Slay, Inactives, Isaac Seumalo, Ke'Shawn Williams, predictions, Week 11, Will Howard
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