By: G.Stryker
The good news is it looks like Vance McDonald is ready to go this week. The bad news is the Steelers are a lot less healthy than they were a week ago, when Vance was the only injured player who was on the inactive list.
Joe Haden, David DeCastro, and Tyson Alualu are all listed as doubtful. Ben Roethlisberger, Artie Burns, Cameron Heyward, and Vance McDonald are all listed as questionable for missing some practice days this week or being limited in practice at least one day. Heyward, Big Ben, and Vance are trending in the right direction with all 3 being full participants in practice on Friday. Burns however was limited on Friday with what appears to be a new toe injury.
I track and try to predict timelines for returning to the field, for all Steeler players. This is a link to our current spreadsheet. It will get updated on Wed, Thu, and Fri after the practice reports are issued. Bookmark it to see how the health of the Steelers is shaping up each week. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GsYG2aM0qh6qCaduhdnDQVgEn83cGHEWrPp6O5SGPHg
I believe the inactive players will be:
- Mason Rudolph: Healthy Scratch/ 3rd QB. I think Ben will play this week
- Joe Haden: He didn't practice this week so he probably won't play
- David DeCastro: Same with DeCastro, no practice usually means no play.
- Tyson Alualu: Though Alualu practiced some, he is listed as doubtful so he probably won’t play
- Zach Banner: Steelers usually carry 3 OTs on game day, plus Finney could play T in a pinch.
- Marcus Allen: He has a healthy stable of safeties in front of him, so he would likely sit.
- Jaylen Samuels: Jaylen is a diverse receiver, but he didn’t see a single snap last week. Since James Conner had all of the running back snaps last week, there may not be enough snaps to merit a helmet for JaySam.
