Zach Banner again not in uniform for Steelers in game vs. Browns
CLEVELAND — Zach Banner has been medically cleared to play, but the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t quite ready to use him during games.
For the second consecutive game after his activation off the injured reserve list, Banner was designated as a gameday inactive for Sunday’s game at the Cleveland Browns.
Banner’s recovery from surgery to repair a torn ACL — suffered during Week 1 of the 2020 season — lingered into the start of this season. But the Steelers cleared Banner to practice after three weeks and added him to the 53-man roster two weeks after that. But for games against the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 17 and the Browns on Sunday they chose not to put him in uniform.
Banner began the 2020 season as the starter at right tackle, and he re-signed with the Steelers over this past offseason. The Steelers designated him their starting right tackle until it became clear he was not physically ready.
Chuks Okorafor was moved from left tackle to the right side with rookie fourth-round pick Dan Moore Jr. starting at left tackle all season. The Steelers apparently are content with that setup for now.
It had been announced previously that tight end Eric Ebron (hamstring) and outside linebacker Melvin Ingram III (groin) would not play Sunday because of injury.
The Steelers’ healthy scratches were No. 3 quarterback Dwayne Haskins, cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon and rookie linebacker Buddy Johnson.
The Steelers announced Saturday that former first-round pick Taco Charlton would be called up from the practice squad to take Ingram’s place on the OLB depth chart.
Running back Anthony McFarland is making his season debut against the Browns following his activation off IR last week. McFarland suffered a knee injury during the preseason. His activation gave the Steelers five running backs for Sunday’s game — Najee Harris, Benny Snell Jr. Kalen Ballage and McFarland, plus fullback Derek Watt.
Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.