In a little more than one hour, the AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be kicked off at Foxboro's Gillette Stadium. While 46 men per team will fight for a chance to play in the Super Bowl in two weeks, seven will have to watch the action from the sidelines as the game day inactives.
The Patriots', via the team's Twitter account, are as follows:
OT LaAdrian Waddle
CB Justin Coleman
QB Jacoby Brissett
CB Cyrus Jones
WR Michael Floyd
RB D.J. Foster
DB Jordan Richards
With the Patriots entering the AFC title game at full health – seven players were listed as "questionable" on Friday’s final injury report –, only one spot on the inactives list was in question. The team has opted to fill it with wide receiver Michael Floyd, who has to take a backseat to veteran Danny Amendola and rookie Malcolm Mitchell today.
Floyd, who joined the Patriots in week 15 has played three games with the team this season. He has been the recipient of five Tom Brady passes, gaining 51 yards and scoring one touchdown. However, he also let a pass slip through his fingers last week against the Houston Texans, leading to an interception.
Other than Floyd, there are no surprises on the list of New England’s inactives. The other six players have been declared inactive last week as well and as long as the Patriots are at healthy, neither of them is expected to be on the 46-man game day roster.
For comparison, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ inactives list looks as follows:
WR Demarcus Ayers
QB Zach Mettenberger
CB Al-Hajj Shabazz
LB L.J. Fort
DE Johnny Maxey
OT Brian Mihalik
TE Ladarius Green