Steelers roll with virtually 2nd-team secondary vs. Tom Brady, Bucs

It came as no surprise, as it was previously announced. But that made the list of inactives for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday no less daunting for the team and its fans.

Four starters in the secondary were not in uniform because of injury for the game against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two-time All Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has a knee injury, cornerback Levi Wallace remains in NFL concussion protocol and cornerbacks CB Cam Sutton and Ahkello Witherspoon have hamstring injuries.

Though starting strong safety Terrell Edmunds returned to the lineup after missing a game because of a concussion, against the Bucs the other starters at defensive back were safety Tre Norwood (who started in place of Edmunds last week), cornerback James Pierre (who had had been exclusively used on special teams over the past 10 months until last week) and three players who were on the Steelers practice squad: cornerbacks Josh Jackson and Quincy Wilson and safety Elijah Riley.

Jackson was added to the 53-man roster Saturday.

The Steelers defense is also without three significant contributors who are on injured reserve in linebacker T.J. Watt, defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal and safety Damontae Kazee.

Starting tight end Pat Freiermuth had been previously announced as missing Sunday’s game because of a concussion.

The Steelers’ only healthy scratches Sunday were No. 3 quarterback Mason Rudolph and reserve interior offensive lineman Kendrick Green.

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