The Pittsburgh Steelers announced their inactives list for Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season Sunday morning. The list included injured players, quarterbacks and rookie linemen.
Most notably, third-round rookie Gennings Dunker was the odd-man out for the Steelers offensive line again in Week 2. The Steelers have nine offensive linemen on their 53-man roster, and Dunker will be the only one not dressed on September 20.
The Steelers will visit the New England Patriots. Kickoff is set for 1 pm ET in Foxboro.
Here is Pittsburgh’s full list of inactives for Week 2: cornerback Joey Porter Jr., wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., quarterbacks Will Howard and Drew Allar, guard Gennings Dunker, and defensive linemen Kevin Jobity Jr. and Gabriel Rubio.
Steelers Make 3rd-Round Rookie Guard Gennings Dunker Inactive Again
The Steelers announced Porter wouldn’t play Friday because of his lingering back and conditioning concerns amid his contract dispute. On Saturday, the Steelers also ruled out Pittman.
With those two players set to be included on the inactive list, the most notable healthy scratch was Dunker.
Not that he was a major surprise. Dunker didn’t dress in Week 1, and the team didn’t sustain any injuries along the offensive line. Steelers Depot’s Dave Bryan predicted it could be awhile before Dunker gets his chance.
“While Dunker could ultimately find himself off the inactive list on game days throughout his first NFL season, it might be several weeks before that happens the first time,” wrote Bryan.
Third-round rookies typically play or at least dress immediately. But the good news here is the Steelers have strong offensive line depth.
At guard, Mason McCormick and Spencer Anderson are both healthy. Brock Hoffman and Ryan McCollum will serve as Pittsburgh’s backup interior offensive linemen once again in Week 2.
Zach Frazier will start at center.
Steelers Make Will Howard Emergency QB3
Howard is the only healthy scratch the Steelers will have in Week 3. But the Steelers do have the second-year quarterback listed as the team’s emergency QB3.
Under NFL rules, Howard will enter Sunday’s contest against the Patriots if both quarterbacks on the team’s active roster suffer injuries. The Steelers enter Week 2 with Aaron Rodgers as their starter Mason Rudolph as the backup.
Like all of Pittsburgh’s healthy scratches for Week 2, Howard has never played in an NFL regular season game. For the second straight week, Allar will be inactive as the team’s QB4.
Pittsburgh Dressing Five Defensive Linemen
Pittsburgh has a deep defensive line room with seven at the position group on their active roster. But for the second consecutive week, the Steelers will only dress five of them.
Cameron Heyward, Derrick Harmon, Keeanu Benton, Sebastian Joseph-Day and Yahya Black will be active along the Steelers defensive line versus the Patriots. And like Dunker, Rubio and Jobity continue to wait to make their NFL debut.
Pittsburgh selected Rubio in the sixth round at No. 210 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. Jobity was an undrafted rookie — the lone one to make the Steelers roster out of training camp.
Steelers Rookie Inactive vs. Patriots as Wait for Playing Time Continues