It’s been a long six weeks on the shelf for Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, but that long shelf life might be coming to an end.
After being listed as a full participant the last two days on the injury report for Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans, with Tuesday’s practice report being an estimate, Heyward tweeted out a teaser just moments ago, using a famous John Wick GIF to hint at his return to the line.
The line immediately after the one Wicks uses in the movie is “yeah, I’m thinking I’m back” as Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora – noted movie buff, by the way! — pointed out on Twitter.
Though nothing is official yet, there appears to be a great chance that Heyward will be activated off of the Reserve/Injured list and will return to the lineup Thursday night against the Titans at Acrisure Stadium, giving Pittsburgh’s defense a huge boost.
Heyward was injured in the first half of the season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers and then underwent surgery to fix his groin. That landed  him on the Reserve/Injured list, which caused him to miss a minimum of four weeks while on IR.
Heyward had his 21-day practice window opened last Thursday ahead of the matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week Eight and was a full participant in practice last Friday. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Gerry Dulac previously speculated that Heyward would return in the Week 10 matchup against the Green Bay Packers, but Heyward has always been against people putting timeframes on him when it comes to his recovery.
It appears that he’s beat that outside timeline in this instance, too.
Should he be activated Thursday ahead of the matchup with the Titans, Heyward will be able to help clean up some of the issues that one of the league’s worst run defenses is having early in the season. Through the first seven games of the season the Steelers are allowing 137.1 yards per game on the ground, which is sixth-worst in the NFL.
Heyward is not a fix-all or a savior, but his presence will be key in helping the Steelers try and turn things around from a run defense standpoint.
Despite being on the Reserve/Injured list while recovering from groin surgery, Heyward has maintained a key presence around the Steelers. He’s traveled with the team on road trips to Las Vegas, Houston and most recently Los Angeles and has consistently been on the sideline as an extension of the coaching staff for the players, and vice versa.
Now, after sitting and watching for more than a month, Heyward might have the chance to put the pads back on and get back to doing what he loves.
