The Pittsburgh Steelers are now less than 90 minutes away from their kickoff for Week 14 of the 2024 NFL season. Coming off three AFC North matchups, the Steelers have their fourth-straight division game as they look to keep rolling in the month of December.

As is always the case, 90 minutes before kickoff is when teams must announce their inactive list for the upcoming game. With 48 players active for each team, the number of players on the inactive list depends on if a team makes any practice squad elevations. With the Steelers not elevating any players from the practice squad, their inactive list is five players. As for the Browns, they will have seven players after their roster moves on Saturday.

Keep in mind that last season implemented a modified return of the “third quarterback rule.” Every NFL team who has a third quarterback on their 53-man roster may include him on their inactive list, but he can be designated as a third quarterback and is therefore in uniform in case of injury to the two players ahead of him on the depth chart. But if one of the players is deemed healthy enough to return, the third quarterback goes back to their role on the sideline.

Here are the five players inactive for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14 against the Browns according to Steelers.com.

Steelers Inactives

No. 4 QB Kyle Allen (3rd QB)
No. 14 WR George Pickens
No. 27 DB Cory Trice Jr.
No. 64 OG Max Scharping
No. 94 DE Dean Lowry

This week, one player had already been ruled out for the Steelers coming into the game in defensive tackle Montravius Adams. The reason Adams isn’t on the inactive list is because he is not on the 53-man roster and remains on the Reserve/Injured List (IR) for another game.

After landing on the injury list on Friday with a hamstring injury, wide receiver George Pickens was the biggest question mark when it came to the Steelers inactive list. With the Steelers having six wide receivers on the 53-man roster, there was no need for a practice squad elevation as the Steelers could have Scotty Miller active if Pickens could not go. After testing things out in pre-game warm ups, the Steelers are holding Pickens out this week while Miller is active. This is the first game George Pickens has missed in his three-year career.

After missing the last three games with an ankle injury, Alex Highsmith was able to get back to practice each day this past week. Limited on Wednesday, Highsmith was a full participant on Thursday and Friday and had no injury status going into the game. Because of his return, there was one less helmet available on game day. For this reason, Dean Lowry is inactive against Browns, leaving the Steelers with only four defensive linemen and five outside linebackers.

Two spots on the inactive list that seemed to be locked in unless there is a problem are a quarterback and on the offensive line. Kyle Allen is once again the third quarterback position and can only enter the game if both other quarterbacks are out due to injury. Now that the Steelers offensive line is back to having all players available who are not on IR, Max Sharpling finds his usual spot on the inactive list for the Steelers.

The final player on the inactive list this week is cornerback Cory Trice Jr. Landing on IR after Week 3, Trice was designated to return ahead of the Steelers Week 11 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens but did not return to the 53-man roster until this past week at the very end of the 21-day practice window. While it is positive to have Trice back in the cornerback room, it’s difficult to find a helmet for him on game day at this time because of the health and availability of the rest of the squad.

As for the Browns inactive list, it can be seen below. The Browns had downgraded cornerback Myles Harden to out on Saturday but he does not appear on their inactive list.

Browns Inactives

No. 2 QB Bailey Zappe (3rd QB)
No. 19 WR Cedric Tillman
No. 27 RB D’Onta Foreman
No. 35 CB Chigozie Anusiem
No. 80 WR Jamari Thrash
No. 92 DT Sam Kamara
No. 96 DE James Houston