Will Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward be able to play Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys on the heels of him suffering a quad injury during the team’s Week 8 road win against the Baltimore Ravens? It’s hard to say for sure right now despite head coach Mike Tomlin saying on Tuesday that he is optimistic about Heyward’s chances of playing against the Cowboys. On Wednesday, Heyward met the media, and he was immediately asked to talk about his recent leg injury.
“Yeah, leg’s fine,” Heyward said. “I’m getting better every day.”
That’s not much from Heyward but at least he’s optimistic. Even so, it will be a huge surprise if Heyward practices at all on Wednesday and thus can probably be expected to be one of several players listed on the team’s first injury report of Week 9 as being a non-practice participant.
Should Heyward ultimately miss the Steelers Sunday road game against the Cowboys it would mark the first contest he’s sat out since week 17 of the 2017 season. That missed game he was a healthy scratch as the Steelers rested several starers against the Cleveland Browns due to them having a playoff spot locked up.
Prior to Week 17 of the 2017 season, the last time Heyward missed games due to injury was during the 2016 season after suffering a torn pectoral in the teams Week 10 game against the Cowboys. That injury forced him to the team’s Reserve/Injured list for the remainder of the season.
Should Heyward ultimately play against the Cowboys, hopefully he can have his snaps limited. The Steelers are destined to dress backup defensive linemen Isaiah Buggs and Henry Mondeaux against the Cowboys and rookie Carlos Davis might also get his first NFL helmet with Tyson Alualu expected to miss the Sunday game against the Cowboys with a knee injury.
Starting on Thursday, the Steelers injury report will tell us a lot more about Heyward’s potential availability for the game against the Cowboys. Until then, however, its probably best to consider him as questionable ahead of Wednesdays practice.
