While the Ravens will have an extra day to get all of their injured and ill players back on the field for Monday night's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, the statuses of cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle, as well as tight end Todd Heap, leave a great deal of uncertainty heading into the weekend.

The Ravens listed McAlister as doubtful because of the sprained knee that kept him out of the team's 19-14 loss in Buffalo before the bye week. Even with Rolle, the secondary was exposed on several big plays and committed a couple of costly penalties against a Bills team playing rookie quarterback Trent Edwards.

Rolle was listed as questionable because of an undisclosed illness. According to a team spokesman, Rolle's current situation is related to the undisclosed medical condition that kept him sidelined for three weeks, in part because of the medication he was taking to treat the condition.

If McAlister and Rolle are unable to play against the Steelers, Corey Ivy and Derrick Martin likely will start. Ivy, a seven-year veteran, struggled in place of McAlister against the Bills. Martin, in his second year after being drafted in the sixth round, made the first interception of his career Oct. 14 against the St. Louis Rams.

Heap, who has missed two of the past three games because of a strained hamstring, said after practice yesterday that his status would be "wait and see."

don.markus@baltsun.com