On Monday, Cameron Heyward posted on his Instagram account a photo of him in a hospital bed following surgery with the caption “Ready to get back to feeling good!” Per Tom Pelissero, the surgery was a clean-up procedure for the groin/core muscle injury that he suffered in Week 1 last season.
This comes as no surprise as he missed six games following the Steelers’ season opener. He had surgery to help him recover, but it was clear that he wasn’t 100 percent the rest of the season, so a clean-up procedure makes sense. Heyward followed up his surgery announcement on Monday with a tweet saying “Done doing stuff on 1 leg that guys were doing on 2 legs lol Can’t wait to get back to myself.”
He later responded to a reply on his Twitter post stating he pushed himself in rehab to play and “it wasn’t like anything was torn.” He just wanted to be back with his teammates.
Heyward returned earlier than initially expected from the first surgery and helped stabilize the defensive line and the run defense over the back half of the season even if he wasn’t playing at full strength.
Heyward finished the season with 33 total tackles (25 solo), six tackles for loss, two sacks, and three quarterback hits. It was the least production from him in a season since 2016, when he only played seven games due to a torn pectoral muscle. Following that injury, he was named to six-straight Pro Bowl rosters, his injury-hampered 2023 season ending the streak.
He did take home another honor in 2023 winning the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award given to a player to recognize his commitment to philanthropy and community impact as well as his play on the field.
Heyward is still under contract, but at his age — the 13-year veteran turns 35 in May — his cap number might require some attention. The Steelers could look into an extension to help spread out some of that cap hit as Heyward is possibly entering the final year or two of his career.
Either way, Heyward will be returning at full strength compared to what he dealt with all of 2023, and that is great news for the Steelers.
