PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Critical on social media of comments about adding music to practice, Steelers captain Cam Heyward said he is done talking about ‘freakin’ music’. Heyward did discuss some of their defensive issues, including comments from Mike Tomlin about lacking effort.
“Effort only comes into play when you execute your job,” Heyward said Thursday. “We have gotten to a point where we’re not executing well. Coaches can draw up what we need to do, but if we don’t execute it-point of attack, being in the right assignment, you do that, then you can play with effort. You don’t do that and you play with effort, you look like a bonehead.”
“I know it looked ugly on Sunday, but I look forward to cleaning it up this week.”
To that point, the Steelers wore full pads in practice on Wednesday and hit. It’s unique because NFL CBA rules state you can only have a couple of practices all year in full pads. So coaches have to use it sparingly.
“You really can’t substitute anything for physicality, I know we had a day of pads,” Heyward said. “For us, we have to preach the little things because it’s the little things getting us beat. Running to the ball, understanding if someone does make a mistake having other guys there accountable for it.”
“It takes 11 guys on defense to be a good defense. It doesn’t take one guy or two guys, it’s got to take the whole team playing a lot better.”
Other defensive players said Tomlin was ‘loud’ in meetings on Monday setting the tone for the week. Heyward is not sure if that will be effective or not until 7:30p on Sunday.
“You really don’t know if it’s received until how the game plays out,” Heyward said. “We are judged on wins and losses. Coach has been hard on us, we didn’t get the job done. To acknowledge that is huge, to learn from that is even better.”
The job Sunday if to find a way to get a win against the team with the best record not only in the division, but the entire conference. While they’ve played in a lot of tight games, Heyward also knows it’s a team, and a MVP candidate at quarterback, that could embarrass you for a second straight week.
“If we don’t donate our time and really lock in on this guy, he’s going to have a field day,” Heyward said. “That’s just being honest. We have a lot in front of us. We need to grow from this and be better.”
Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson is 10th in the league in rushing and has thrown for more yards and touchdowns than Ben Roethlisberger in 2021. The challenge is if you blitz Jackson, you better get home because he can scramble or you are leaving your corners exposed. Heyward said the key is getting pressure up the middle and staying in your lanes.
“It’s a group effort,” Heyward said. “He really stresses a defense at all three levels. We got to tackle well, got to have guys running to the ball, but I look forward to it.”
While five wins against the Bengals and Browns in his career, Jackson has only two against the Steelers. He’s also averaging 4.1 yards a carry, three more interceptions than touchdowns and sacked nine times against Pittsburgh. Heyward said they can study techniques, but what they did in the past is not indicative of what can happen on Sunday.
Heyward normally gets a veteran’s day off on Wednesday, he said he nixed that this week because he said he didn’t play well enough against Cincinnati.
He likely has heard the criticism out there from former teammates and legends. Heyward is active on social media, but says he’s not paying attention to it.
“I don’t really care,” Heyward said. “At the end of the day, it’s 11 guys and this team getting it done. I appreciate their comments, but we need to get it done. If we start worrying about what is said elsewhere, shame on us.”
Heyward believes they still have a lot in front of them, but without a win against the Ravens. That might only be a whole lot of time off in their future.