No JuJu Smith-Schuster and no James Conner.
Again.
Both statuses were evident all through the Steelers' week of preparation for their game Sunday against the Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz., and both became official Friday following practice with the final participation report:
Here’s the full official report:
Smith-Schuster was cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol eight days ago, but he continues to be slowed by a knee injury. He didn’t participate in any practices all week, and now he’ll miss a third consecutive game.
Conner has been listed as a limited participant since last Thursday because of a long-nagging shoulder injury, and there never was any pretense on any front that he'd be available. He'll miss a fifth game in six weeks. And the one game in which he did play in that span, the 21-7 loss Nov. 14 in Cleveland, he made only five carries before aggravating the shoulder injury and exiting.
Among the rest: Mark Barron showed up on the list with a knee injury and was limited in practice. Diontae Johnson, limited early in the week by illness, was a full participant a second consecutive day and will play. Vance McDonald and Ramon Foster, both of whom were held out of practices earlier in the week for non-injury reasons, were full participants and will play.
On the Cardinals’ side, they've had four different offensive linemen listed on the injury report through the week, not exactly an ideal scenario given the defense they're about to see: A.Q. Shipley (ilnness), Max Garcia (toe), Lamont Gaillard (thumb) and J.R. Sweezy (illness). On the final participation report Friday, Shipley and Garcia were both listed as questionable, with Shipley a limited participant in practice. Additionally, cornerbacks Byron Murphy (calf) and Kevin Peterson (shoulder) were added to the list as questionable after being limited participants. Safety Jalen Thompson (concussion) had been limited all week until being a full participant Friday.
I’ve got a full Grind coming from my day with the team.