The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without wide receiver Ben Skowronek for a third straight week.
With their Week 8 inactive list, the Steelers ruled out Skowronek for the Cleveland Browns matchup. The veteran receiver hasn’t played since October 11 because of a calf injury.
Skowronek was limited in practice throughout the week. Entering Sunday, he possessed the “questionable” tag as his game status.
Previously, the Steelers also ruled out defensive backs Brandin Echols and Doneiko Slaughter. Each didn’t practice this week because of hamstring injuries.
Every other Steelers player on the injury report will play Sunday. Pittsburgh will host the Cleveland Browns in a matchup where the winner will move into first place of the AFC North.
Along with Skowronek, Echols and Slaughter, the Steelers also made quarterbacks Drew Allar and Will Howard along with running back Eli Heidenreich inactive for the November 1 showdown. Howard will serve as the team’s emergency QB3.
Steelers Rule Out WR Ben Skowronek for Browns Matchup
Skowronek was the only receiver on Pittsburgh’s injury report, but the team has wideouts Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson both still on injured reserve.
Pittman hasn’t played since the first Browns matchup. The Steelers placed him on IR on October 10.
Wilson left the October 11 showdown against the Indianapolis Colts with a finger injury. He hasn’t played since. Skowronek also exited the Colts game with his calf injury.
Skowronek doesn’t contribute a lot offensively. In his first two seasons with the Steelers, he never eclipsed the 69-yard mark in receiving. Last season, he had four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown.
But if he were playing while the Steelers were without Pittman and Wilson, Skowronek likely would have become a bigger focal point of the offense. Skowronek is also a key special teams player.
He played 77 special teams snaps in the first five games of the season. Last year, the depth wideout received 310 special teams snaps, which was 69% of Pittsburgh’s snaps on that unit.
To combat the loss of Skowronek, the Steelers signed Brandon Smith from the practice squad to the active roster Saturday. The team also elevated Brandon Johnson from the practice squad to the game day roster for Week 8.
Steelers Set to Face Browns
History will be on the line at Acrisure Stadium between the Steelers and Browns on Sunday.
The Steelers will be trying to extend their 22-game regular season home winning streak versus Cleveland. Granted, the Browns did win a playoff game in Pittsburgh during the AFC wild card round in January 2021. But in the regular season, the Browns haven’t won in Pittsburgh since October 2003.
The Steelers also haven’t suffered a season sweep at the hands of the Browns since 1988. Cleveland won the first matchup between the two rivals this season in a Thursday night primetime matchup on October 1.
The Steelers will be trying to avoid the Browns season sweep Sunday.
More important than that streak is what a Cleveland sweep would mean for the Steelers in the AFC North standings. A loss Sunday would drop the Steelers a game behind the Browns. Cleveland would also own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Steelers enter the Week 8 matchup on a 3-game winning streak. Their last loss was to Cleveland a month ago.
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