Steelers Activate Practice Squad WR Deon Cain

PITTSBURGH — Deon Cain will dress after being elevated from the Steelers practice squad, while injured receiver Diontae Johnson and guard David DeCastro are scratched for the team’s game against Cleveland at Heinz Field on Sunday.

Cain joined the Steelers mid-season in 2019 after spending the first year and a half of his career with the Indianapolis Colts. Cain has caught nine passes for 124 yards in his NFL career, with five catches for 72 yards coming with the Steelers last season.

The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Cain was a sixth-round draft pick of the Colts in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Clemson.

Cain was with the Steelers all offseason, was released at the end of training camp and immediate joined the team’s practice squad. This will be his first time active this season.

Thanks to a new rule implemented for 2020, NFL teams have the ability to dress up to two players from the practice squad each week without permanently adding them to the roster and having them be subject to waivers following their activation.

Johnson will miss the game with a back injury suffered in the Steelers’ Week 5 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Rookie Chase Claypool is expected to replace him in the starting roster, with fifth receiver and kick returner Ray-Ray McCloud also in line for a larger offensive role.

DeCastro (abdominal strain) will be replaced by rookie Kevin Dotson for the third time this season.

The Steelers’ healthy inactive players are quarterback Josh Dobbs, linebacker Ulysees Gilbert III, defensive tackle Carlos Davis and tight end Zach Gentry.