PITTSBURGH -- Six days ago, Dre Kirkpatrick was the Cincinnati Bengals' hero, coming off the bench and intercepting two key passes in the final three minutes of a Monday night win over Denver.
The Bengals are hoping to see similarly strong play from him Sunday night when he starts in place of veteran cornerback Terence Newman.
One of seven players declared inactive ahead of the regular season finale at Heinz Field, Newman is still battling a flu bug that hit the Bengals' locker room this past week. It was so bad that eight players were listed on the injury report at some point during the week. Newman was the only one among the ill who wasn't healthy enough to play. Quarterback Andy Dalton was the biggest-name player who had the flu, getting sent home ahead of Wednesday's practice.
He finished the week's other workouts and will start.
Cornerback Adam Jones picked up the bug Friday and missed that day's practice. Still, he was listed as part of the 46-man active game-day roster. He will remain in his normal No. 3 corner role, playing on the right boundary on downs when starter Leon Hall moves into the slot to cover inside receivers. For Kirkpatrick, this will be his second start this season.
According to ESPN's Bob Holtzman, defensive end Wallace Gilberry was the latest to pick up the sickness. The lineman got sick Saturday and took a pregame IV in order to still play.
The Bengals were so concerned about the flu that some players donned masks on their short flight from Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon in an effort of keeping the germs contained.
Linebacker Emmanuel Lamur, who missed Monday's game due to a hamstring injury he received the week before at Cleveland, is active this week. Receiver James Wright, who hasn't played since the Week 13 game at Tampa Bay, was declared inactive. After practicing in a limited capacity all this week, he went through pregame warm-ups with Bengals receivers, catching passes and running routes. He didn't look all that smooth getting in and out of his breaks, making it unsurprising he was listed inactive.
It's likely that he should be healthy enough to play in next week's playoff game.
Like Lamur, receiver A.J. Green was activated after getting listed as probable with a bruised biceps.
Here's a look at the complete list of inactives for both teams:
Bengals inactives
QB AJ McCarron
CB Terence Newman
OG T.J. Johnson
DT Devon Still
WR James Wright
WR Greg Little
Steelers inactives
CB Ike Taylor
WR Justin Brown
QB Landry Jones
