When former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger criticized his former teammates as being “coddled” this summer, current Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward took issue with the idea that players lack a “team-first” mentality.
That mentality hasn’t helped the Steelers win too many games yet this year. They fell to 2-6 with Sunday’s loss to the Eagles and Heyward had some pointed comments about what needs to change in the second half of the season.
“Either you learn and are accountable or you’re not going to play,” Heyward said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “We’re going into Week Eight, and we’ve all been given chances to see that. If you can’t do it, you won’t play. That goes for everybody. I’m not singling one guy out. We’ve all got to be accountable. Myself included. As a leader, I’ve got to take most of the blame. It’s easy to point [fingers]. It’s better to look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I’ve got to get better.’ So, I’m going to use this time to truly do that.”
The Steelers have a bye in Week Nine and they have plenty of work to do in all phases of the game before they return to the field. If that work doesn’t produce results, Heyward will likely be right about changes coming to the cast of characters on the field.