Pittsburgh Steelers DL Cameron Heyward injured his groin on Sept. 10. Just over seven weeks later, he returned to the lineup for the first time and played 41 defensive snaps—more than half of the game, and about twice as much as was the initial plan. Not that he’s complaining, at least too much.
“It felt good. A lot of reps, but just glad to be out there”, he told reporters from the locker room following Thursday’s win over the Tennessee Titans, via the team’s website. “I’ll take all the reps I can get. I’ve got to make up for lost time”.
Now 34 years old, he knows the clock is ticking on his NFL career. And coming off a six-year Pro Bowl run with nearly consistently good health, to have such a setback that cost him six games was surely tough to handle. Which is why he attacked his rehab as hard as he could.
“It definitely made it worth it”, he said. Coach [Mike Tomlin] said last week, he was like, ‘I want to take the wrapper off of you and see if you can go Thursday’. I’ve just been working my tail off to get here. Just excited to be back, be with the guys. A different state than I’ve been for seven weeks. It’s been a long time”.
And he wasn’t quiet. He had six tackles in his return, including three defensive stops. He also had what would have been the key pressure of the game on Titans QB Will Levis on 4th and 7 with 53 seconds to play. The only problem is that rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. was flagged for defensive holding, giving them new life.
While he stayed in the game almost the whole way down the stretch, he did come off the field for what proved to be the final play of the game. ILB Kwon Alexander sealed things with an interception on 3rd and 5 from the Steelers’ 19-yard line. He was on the field to rush on first and second down before coming out during a clock stoppage.
And he did that on a short week, so the good news is he gets extra rest before he has to get back on the field. His body will certainly appreciate the additional time to recuperate before the Steelers take on the Green Bay Packers, and they won’t have to go anywhere, staying at home at Acrisure Stadium for the third game in a row.
The defensive line struggled at times in his absence. While Larry Ogunjobi held his own, younger players and journeymen like DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk and Armon Watts only occasionally offered the level of play the defense demands to retain its standard of play.
But now the captain is back, perhaps sooner than many expected, although not by much. Many thought he would be back for Green Bay. He returned just prior to that, maybe as an appetizer, a test to see how far he could push knowing that he would have a long layover afterward. It seems to have worked out as well as could be hoped.
