Steelers at Bengals inactives: Antonio Brown in; John Ross out

The Cincinnati Bengals have announced their inactives list for Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers

For Cincinnati, the following players are out:

• Wide receiver John Ross
• Offensive lineman Christian Westerman
• Offensive lineman Alex Redmond
• Safety Shawn Williams
• Linebacker Nick Vigil
• Linebacker Vincent Rey
• Cornerback Keivarae Russell

The Bengals had already ruled out Vincent Rey, Shawn Williams and Nick Vigil due to their injuries. With them out, Jordan Evans is making his first start at linebacker. The only mystery was with Michael Johnson, who was questionable with a back injury. He is active and will start at defensive end across from Carlos Dunlap, so the Bengals will have most of their defense against Pittsburgh’s high-powered offense.

As for rookie receiver John Ross, he will continue to be inactive as long as the other wide receivers are healthy. Marvin Lewis has said as much, so don’t expect to see Ross active for the final month of the season, barring injury to other players.

For the Steelers, the following players are inactive:

• Quarterback Joshua Dobbs
• Cornerback Joe Haden
• Tight end Vance McDonald
• Safety Mike Mitchell
• Offensive tackle Matt Felier
• Defensive tackle Daniel McCullers
• Linebacker James Harrison

We already knew Mike Mitchell was likely to be held out after being listed as doubtful. The big question was with Antonio Brown, who was listed as questionable due to a toe injury. While he was clearly hobbled in pregame warmups, he is active tonight.

The Steelers end up being down three key defensive players, including Mitchell, cornerback Joe Haden and linebacker James Harrison. The Bengals should score a lot more than 14 points this time around.