The Steelers face the Oakland Raiders today without their top rusher, James Conner. Conner is inactive after being ruled out earlier in the week with a sprained ankle suffered a week ago.
Without Conner in the lineup, the team will rely on rookie Jaylen Samuels and veteran Stevan Ridley to carry the load for the ground game.
"Ridley is a guy that has been around the league for a while," said Ben Roethlisberger. "He has some NFL experience. He has been here for a little bit now. Samuels is someone who is new to the game, big body guy that we use in the passing game. We have specific plays and packages with him in because we want to throw the ball.
"It will be interesting to see how they want to use both of them going forward. I think it will be good for everyone to get some reps and keep each other fresh."
Also inactive this week is Marcus Gilbert, set to miss his seventh game with a knee injury. With Gilbert out Matt Feiler has shown what he can do, and he once again is ready to step in. The team will also have Chukwuma Okorafor available.
"I am just always prepared for whatever is asked of me," said Feiler.
Morgan Burnett was listed as questionable on Friday's status report, but he will be active today. Burnett missed the Chargers game with a back injury and was a full participant in practice all week.
"It feels good," said Burnett. "Missing time is tough. It's part of the territory. The only thing I can keep doing is keep working, keep grinding, and don't let that get to me mentally. Keep my head down and keep focusing on trying to get better. I just take it one day at a time."
Anthony Chickillo, who injured his ankle against the Chargers, did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but was back on the field on Friday as a full participant. He is active today.
Also inactive today are Mason Rudolph, Marcus Allen, Zach Banner, Ola Adeniyi and L.T. Walton.
The full list of inactives is below.
Steelers Inactives
No. 2 QB Mason Rudolph
No. 27 S Marcus Allen
No. 30 RB James Conner
No. 72 OT Zach Banner
No. 77 OT Marcus Gilbert
No. 92 LB Olasunkanmi Adeniyi
No. 96 DE L.T. Walton
Raiders Inactives
No. 14 WR Keon Hatcher
No. 35 RB C.J. Anderson
No. 36 DB Montrel Meander
No. 58 LB Kyle Wilber
No. 70 G/T Kelechi Osemele
No. 71 OT Justin Murray
No. 73 DT Maurice Hurst
