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 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.
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 their 53-man roster earlier this week and that decision came prior to his 21-day practice window closing. Howard, who had 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 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 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 elevated CB D’Shawn Jamison from their practice squad on Saturday. He should dress and play Sunday against the Bengals and mainly on special teams.
OLB Alex Highsmith – A pectoral injury will unfortunately prevent Highsmith from playing against the Bengals. It also prevented Highsmith from practicing this past week and resulted in him being officially ruled out for Sunday 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 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 their Sunday home game against the Bengals. 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 their Week 10 game as their 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. 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 Sunday against the Bengals. My gut tells me that he won’t. If that is indeed the case, OL Andrus Peat will 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 on Sunday against the Bengals.
The Steelers could obviously 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, 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 resulted in a turnover and seemed to get Williams in HC Mike Tomlin’s doghouse. 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, 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 on Sunday.