Buffalo Bills Week 1 inactives vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 1 of Buffalo Bills football is upon us, friends, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are in town looking to spoil Bills Mafia’s return to a sold-out Highmark Stadium. Neither team pulled up any players from its practice squad this week, so the teams are making up their inactive list from the main 53-man roster.

We made our guess as to which players would be inactive on game days last week. How close were we? Here is the official list.

RB Zack Moss

This is a bit of a surprise, as the third-round pick from the 2020 NFL Draft was projected by many to lead Buffalo’s backfield after he closed his rookie year doing so last season. Well, he closed it as best he could, as he suffered an ankle injury in the Wild Card game, giving Devin Singletary his starting gig back. With veteran Matt Breida adding a speed element that neither Moss nor Singletary can add to an already dynamic offense, the Bills must want to capitalize on a more diverse skill set in the backfield. Moss sent a cryptic tweet yesterday that foreshadowed his inactive status today.

OT Tommy Doyle

The second of Buffalo’s rookie offensive tackles will be inactive for his first game, as the Bills will go with fellow rookie Spencer Brown as the swing tackle behind Dion Dawkins and Daryl Williams.

DT Star Lotulelei

Head coach Sean McDermott announced this one yesterday, as Lotulelei has a calf injury that will cause him to miss the season opener. Lotulelei hasn’t played in a game that matters since Buffalo’s Wild Card loss to the Houston Texans in January of 2020. A lot has changed since then. The Bills will use a combination of Ed Oliver, Vernon Butler, Harrison Phillips, and Justin Zimmer to replace Lotulelei today.

LB Andre Smith

A special teams mainstay last season, Smith begins the year inactive. Towards the end of last year, Buffalo was declaring Tyrel Dodson inactive and leaving Smith on the gameday roster. Not today.

DE Boogie Basham

The second of Buffalo’s rookie defensive linemen is a healthy scratch. Greg Rousseau, the team’s 2021 first-round pick, is active. Veterans Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison are joined by Rousseau, Efe Obada, and A.J. Epenesa along the edge.

Here are Pittsburgh’s inactive players:

No. 3 QB Dwayne Haskins
No. 25 CB Ahkello Witherspoon
No. 41 LB Robert Spillane
No. 79 OL Rashaad Coward
No. 92 DE Isaiahh Loudermilk