Steelers Promote RT Zach Banner to Active Roster from Injured Reserve

The Pittsburgh Steelers have activated right tackle Zach Banner from the injured reserve list and he will be eligible to play in Sunday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks, the team announced on Saturday.

Banner suffered a torn ACL in the 2020 season opener against the New York Giants. He returned for the team’s training camp and preseason in 2021, but was placed on injured reserve before the season opener after suffering a setback in the preseason.

Banner returned to practice after the minimum time on injured reserve and told the media last week that he felt ready to play against Denver in Week 5. It’s unclear whether Banner will re-join the starting lineup immediately upon his activation.

With Banner out, left tackle Chukwuma Okorafor flipped to right tackle and rookie Dan Moore Jr. played left tackle. Okorafor had his best game of the season against Denver’s Von Miller on Sunday, holding the All Pro without a sack or quarterback hit. Offensive line coach Adrian Klemm said that he would only consider playing Banner at right tackle last week.

Banner replaced JuJu Smith-Schuster on the active roster. Smith-Schuster was placed on injured reserve. 

Swapping the wide receiver for a lineman restored the positional balance on the 53-man roster after the team promoted wide receiver Cody White from the practice squad and released guard Rashaad Coward last Saturday.