Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward suffered a high-ankle sprain during the team’s 27-14 Friday night preseason win over the New Orleans Saints and while he reportedly will undergo an MRI Saturday to determine the seriousness of his injury, he certainly believes he’ll be ready for the regular season opener against the Washington Redskins.
“I’ll be there Week One,” Heyward told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after Friday night’s win over the Saints.
The Steelers former first-round draft pick out of Ohio State also has since posted a few thoughts of his on his Twitter account as it relates to his injury and presumed quick rehab. He compared himself to comic book character Wolverine, whose ability to heal very quickly from all types of injuries is one of his prime super hero traits. He went on to post on his social media account that he’s betting on himself to be ready for the team’s Monday night opener against the Redskins.
The Steelers opener will take place exactly two weeks from this coming Monday so perhaps the extra day will give Heyward a fighting chance to be ready for that game. However, if he’s unable to pull a Wolverine and be ready for that contest, perhaps he’ll make it back for the team’s second game of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals.
In the meantime, with Heyward’s ankle likely to remaining in a walking boot for presumably the next several days, it will put more onus on backup defensive ends Ricardo Mathews and L.T. Walton to make sure their both ready to see significant playing time against the Redskins should the starter ultimately not be ready in time. My money, however, is betting that Heyward will indeed heal in time. We shall see.
