Steelers lose defensive end Heyward for season
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin will be without defensive end Cameron Heyward for the rest of the season. Heyward suffered a pectoral injury Sunday during the Steelers’ loss to the Cowboys at Heinz Field.
Defensive end Cameron Heyward suffered a pectoral injury Sunday during the Steelers loss to the Cowboys and will miss the remainder of the season.
PITTSBURGH – The news just keeps getting worse for the Steelers.
Mired in a four-game losing streak, the Steelers learned Tuesday afternoon they would be without arguably their best defensive player when a second opinion on defensive end Cameron Heyward showed the pectoral injury he suffered in last Sunday’s 35-30 loss to Dallas was a season-ending injury.
“I would like to thank everyone who has been in my corner this season,” Heyward wrote on his Instagram account. “It pains me to say I will not get to continue playing this season. My role will change as I can not play but it will not change the goals the team has set out.”
The Steelers’ goals might not have changed, but achieving them without Heyward will be a tall task.
The team’s sack leader in each of the previous two seasons, he also leads the Steelers (4-5) with three sacks despite missing the first two games of his career earlier this season with a hamstring injury.
Pittsburgh lost both games – at Miami and at home against New England – allowing a combined 362 rushing yards.
The Steelers are 0-4 in games without starting Heyward and fellow defensive end Stephon Tuitt the past two seasons.
The Steelers have just 13 sacks this season, tied with Oakland for the fewest in the NFL.
With Heyward out, rookie nose tackle Javon Hargrave and defensive end Ricardo Mathews, signed as a free agent in the offseason from San Diego, will take on more prominent roles.
Hargrave, in particular, will be asked to do more. The third-round draft pick out of South Carolina State, has seen the majority of his playing time as starting nose tackle. But he also filled in for Heyward in the nickel and dime defenses – which the team plays about 70 percent of the time – when Heyward was previously out.
“He’s done some good things,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “He’s physically built for the battle. But also, you have to acknowledge that circumstances have been an asset to him. There’s been a lot of sub-package football as it is, in the NFL. And that limits the number of snaps that he gets.”
That won’t happen moving forward.
Hargrave, who had 37 career sacks at South Carolina State, has yet to record a sack this season despite appearing on 40 percent of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps. He has 12 tackles and but no quarterback hurries.
The Steelers hope Hargrave’s learning curve will quickly trend upwards, starting with Sunday’s game at Cleveland (0-10).
The team could get a boost from the return of injured outside linebacker Bud Dupree this week.
Dupree, the team’s top draft pick in 2015, was placed on injured reserve to open the season because of a sports hernia that required surgery. He began practicing last week as Pittsburgh’s player on injured reserve with a designation to return.
“He is,” said Tomlin, when asked if Dupree could be in the team’s plans this week. “But we’ll let preparation be our guide. You know the procedure, his availability and so forth, how we evaluate that performance and availability over the course of the week will be our guide in terms of where we go with that.”
Meanwhile, Heyward vows to continue to be part of what he feels can be a turnaround of a difficult season thus far.
“My support for this team will only grow and I look forward in watching this team grow and fight on,” he wrote. “(I) hate being on the sideline but there is a greater plan taking place. My patience will be tested but I look forward to 2017. My hand will remain in the pile no matter what!”
Linebacker Steven Johnson, tied for the team lead in special teams tackles with six, was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a broken ankle suffered against the Cowboys. Linebacker L.J. Fort, released Saturday when tight end Ladarius Green was activated off the PUP list, was re-signed to take Johnson’s spot on the roster. … Tomlin said receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey (foot) and safety Shamarko Thomas (groin) will not play at Cleveland. … Running back DeAngelo Williams (knee) and safety Jordan Dangerfield (groin) also are unlikely to play. … Wide receiver Markus Wheaton is getting a shoulder injury that has sidelined him for all but three games this season, re-evaluated.