Pittsburgh Steelers early injury report, projected starters for Week 9

The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking quite healthy for their Week 9 game against the Chicago Bears. Here are their projected starters on Monday Night Football.

After suffering a big blow early in the season by losing defensive tackle Tyson Alualu, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been quite healthy outside of a string of peculiar groin injures. Now on the mend, most of the team appears to be in great shape as the Steelers get set to host the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.

This is a big game for both teams as they look to stay relevant in their respective divisions, and another loss for Chicago could be the dagger to their 2021 season. Here’s a look at the injuries we know about so far heading into Week 9:

Steelers reported and known injuries for Week 9

According to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, the Steelers have an excellent bill of health heading into their eighth game this season. On Thursday’s injury report, Ben Roethlisberger, Chris Boswell, Cameron Heyward, and B.J. Finney were all limited participants with minor injuries. Tight end Eric Ebron was the only player who missed practice due to a lingering hamstring issue.

Chicago doesn’t appear to be as lucky this week. According to the official injury report, the Bears had six players sit out of Thursday’s practice, including EDGE Khalil Mack, DB Eddie Jackson, and RB Damien Williams.

Steelers projected starters vs Bears in Week 9

Based on the injury report, it’s pretty safe to assume that the Steelers will have their normal starters set to play on Monday Night Football, with the exception of Eric Ebron. As always, Ben Roethlisberger will man the quarterback position with Najee Harris as the lead dog in the backfield.

Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool will be the starting receivers for Pittsburgh as Pat Freiermuth and Zach Gentry will assume tight end duties. Meanwhile, the Steelers have all five starters healthy and rearing to go this week.

Defensively, the Steelers still won’t have Stephon Tuitt back, but Heyward should be good to go alongside Chris Wormley on the interior defensive line with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith on the edge. Devin Bush and Joe Schobert will be the starting off-ball linebackers and the starting secondary will consist of Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds, Joe Haden, and Cameron Sutton with Arthur Maulet and rookie Tre Norwood carving out sizable roles in sub-packages.

The Pittsburgh Steelers look to be in excellent shape for this primetime matchup. Barring any major setbacks, it looks like they could be down just one starter in Week 9 against the Chicago Bears.