In the moments after a 29-10 blowout loss on Christmas Day to the visiting Kansas City Chiefs, team captain and standout defensive lineman Cameron Heyward of the Pittsburgh Steelers had a rather pointed comment in the postgame session with the media, stating that if 10 guys do their jobs defensively and one doesn’t, they’re screwed.
Many took that quote and ran with it, believing Heyward was calling out one player in particular.
That wasn’t the case whatsoever with Heyward. Though there was still some bite with the quote, Heyward attempted to clear up the confusion regarding his comments. On the latest episode of his podcast Not Just Football with Cam Heyward that published Thursday morning, Heyward said it was ridiculous that people believed he was calling out a teammate.
“Guys. I did not mean someone in particular. When I refer to this, I’ve learned this from Coach [Dick] LeBeau over the years, it’s about 11 guys doing their jobs. All I was simply saying is when you don’t have 11 guys doing their jobs and one guy doesn’t, or two guys or three guys or four, vice versa, you name it. But when you don’t have everybody doing their jobs, you are putting yourself at the risk of the offense,” Heyward said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “And to think we would zero down on one person, say, ‘Hey, you’re not doing your job and I’m gonna use the media to do that,’ like, I’m a grown man. If I have a problem with somebody, I’m gonna go talk to ’em.
“And I’m probably talking to ’em on the field. We don’t have this thing where I’m trying to put somebody in a position where they gotta answer questions about that.”
It seemed pretty clear at the time of Heyward’s comments that he wasn’t calling out one player in particular, that he was simply speaking in grand terms. But the Internet took Heyward’s comments and ran with it, and as Heyward said, the Internet tried to do a witch hunt to try and figure out who Heyward was talking about.
His comments weren’t as strong as ones made by linebacker Patrick Queen and safety DeShon Elliott, comments that Elliott came to regret. But they were strong enough from Heyward and got the point across.
During the three-game losing streak that the Steelers are on, the defense has been abysmal. In losses to the Eagles and Chiefs, the defense has been unable to stop the pass and has struggled to get to the quarterback. In the loss to the Ravens, the Steelers couldn’t stop the run.
In those three losses, execution and communication were major issues, and it really hindered the Steelers’ defense. But while the comments were harsh following the loss to the Chiefs, and the in-fighting and bickering were very noticeable and concerning, Heyward stated that the struggles are a team effort and that the Steelers need to grow from it.
“Like yeah, we lost and yeah it sucks. But man, it is a group effort. It’s a team effort. And I just think we gotta get past like being petty and trying to put it on one guy,” Heyward added regarding the comments. “Because if you’re a fan, you’re a fan of everybody on our team. If you’re a teammate, you’re a teammate to everybody on our team. It ain’t about just saying one guy was a problem.
“Shoot, I wish I had got home more. I wish I had gotten off blocks faster. If any player is happy with the way they played, that’s the problem. Because we should all take accountability for that game. And we all gotta grow from it.”
Thanks to a mini-bye week following the dreadful performance on Christmas Day, the Steelers have had a chance to regroup, refresh, and get back on the same page. Hopefully that occurred and the Steelers can show that on Saturday night against the Bengals in the regular-season finale.
Check out the full episode of Not Just Football with Cam Heyward below.
