The major question mark for the Pittsburgh Steelers on a short week is how well the team recovers from Sunday's bruising win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Two young defensive stars went down late in the game against Baltimore: Joey Porter Jr. and Keanu Benton. Luckily, neither sustained serious enough injuries to even appear on the injury report throughout the week.
The Steelers already know they'll be without Alex Highsmith after he sustained an ankle injury two weeks ago. There's a chance he returns next week, so Pittsburgh will turn to the duo of Nick Herbig and Preston Smith in relief once again.
Otherwise, most of the Steelers' injury report during the week was filled with veterans getting rest days on a short week.
While the Steelers may have a (mostly) clean bill of health for their second divisional matchup, the wear and tear from Sunday will be worth monitoring. The Browns may not be very good with a 2-8 record, but there's plenty of vitriol for Pittsburgh in Cleveland and they'll look to play spoiler no matter who is on the field.
Full inactive list for Steelers in Week 12 matchup vs. Browns
Player | Status |
|---|---|
Alex Highsmith | Out - Ankle |
Cory Trice, Jr. | Out - Hamstring |
Scotty Miller | Inactive |
Jonathan Ward | Inactive |
Kyle Allen | Inactive - Emergency 3rd QB |
Offensive Impacts
The Steelers' offense is a full go outside of the players lost earlier in the season who are on injured reserve. Fans shouldn't expect to see too much difference in the personnel from the Steelers offense so long as players stay healthy in this contest.
Defensive Impacts
As stated above, the Steelers will be without Alex Highsmith and will again turn to Nick Herbig and Preston Smith. Otherwise, the Steelers' defense doesn't have to dig too deep for quality contributors.
It's worth noting that Cory Trice Jr. was a full participant on all three days of practice, but considering the short week, he'll wait another week before returning to the field to assist the defensive and special teams units.
Cleveland Browns inactives
Player | Status |
|---|---|
Jedrick Wills | Out - Knee |
Geoff Swaim | Out - Concussion |
D'Onta Foreman | Inactive |
Chigozie Anusiem | Inactive |
Bailey Zappe | Inactive - *Emergency 3rd QB |
What to Know
While the Steelers were resting veterans, the Browns had a laundry list of players who were limited for one ailment or another. Still, the Browns head into the contest with most of their key players available.
One key out for the Browns is left tackle Jedrick Wills who will be replaced by veteran journeyman Germain Ifedi. Nick Herbig will look to use his burst to take advantage of a potential mismatch.