At the start of the week, the Steelers were expecting to have safety Troy Polamalu, cornerback Ike Taylor and linebacker Ryan Shazier back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Saints.
They’ll have to settle for two out of three. Polamalu and Taylor are both active for the contest after missing two and eight games, respectively, with injuries, but Shazier kept them from making a clean sweep.
Shazier will miss his third straight game because of an ankle injury. It’s the seventh game Shazier has missed overall as he’s also battled a knee injury in an injury-plagued rookie season for the first-round pick. He was able to practice every day this week and got in full workouts on both Wednesday and Friday, but was listed as questionable so the team clearly had some doubts before Sunday.
Vince Williams has started the last two games for the Steelers, who also have Sean Spence as an option on the inside alongside Lawrence Timmons.