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The Detroit Lions have declared their inactives ahead of a Week 10 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will be without their starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, on Saturday night due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Lions did some roster shuffling over the last two weeks but heading into Sunday, they have 52 players on the active roster, plus one elevated player, bringing their game-day roster availability up to 53 players.
Because the Lions have eight offensive linemen active for Sunday’s game, they are eligible to expand their game-day roster from 46 to 48 players. Therefore, with 53 players available and 48 eligible to play, the Lions need to declare five inactive for today’s matchup.
Here are those five players:
Lions inactives:
- RB Jamaal Williams (thigh) — Ruled OUT on Friday
- WR Josh Reynolds
- DL Kevin Strong
- EDGE Austin Bryant (shoulder)
- EDGE Jesse Lemonier
The big news here is Taylor Decker is active for the first time this season. He will be returning to his starting left tackle role and standout rookie Penei Sewell will shift over to the right side, sending Matt Nelson to the bench as the team's top offensive line reserve.
Williams was ruled out on Friday, missing his second game with a thigh injury. Jermar Jefferson is active and will share RB2 duties with Godwin Igwebuike.
Reynolds was just claimed off waivers a few days ago and is apparently not up to speed with the playbook just yet and he’ll get the game off. Expect him to be active next week, possibly even taking on a starting role.
Strong was just removed from injured reserve over the bye and with a lot of depth along the defensive line, he’ll get some more time to rest and recover.
Bryant was limited all week, was listed as questionable to play in this game, and is apparently not ready to play. Lemonier—his direct replacement on the roster—just isn’t among the best 48 players on this roster at this time.
Steelers inactives:
- QB Ben Roethlisberger - Ruled OUT due to COVID-19 protocols
- WR Chase Claypool - Ruled OUT with a toe injury
- CB Ahkello Witherspoon
- RB Anthony McFarland
- LB Buddy Johnson
- C B.J. Finney
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