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Steelers' Heyward refuses to apologize for Week 4 sideline outburst
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Steelers DT Cameron Heyward refuses to apologize for Week 4 sideline outburst

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward believes there's nothing wrong with laying one's emotions bare. 

Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers lost his cool with head coach Mike McCarthy during an expletive-laced exchange in a 27-24 Week 4 loss to the Cleveland Browns. The coach said Monday he wishes he "didn't use those words." Heyward, however, took no issue with the verbal spat.  

Cameron Heyward discusses tempers flaring in Week 4 loss 

"We've always had emotion," Heyward said Wednesday after practice, via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I don't think that's anything to shy away from. I've always been someone who tends to get a little feisty on the sideline. I'm not going to apologize for that. That's part of the game. We hold ourselves to a high standard. We expect a lot of our group. When we don't, we're p— off because of it." 

Heyward showed some of that emotion while screaming at teammates during the loss to Cleveland. Linebacker T.J. Watt also blew a fuse, grabbing a headset to voice his frustrations to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

"There was a lot bothering me in that game," Heyward said. "I just didn't like the way the game was trending. There was a multitude of things. You can go back to any team and see there are times when it takes some of your leaders just getting a little more p— off, and we shouldn't apologize for that. We should embrace it in our game, and we should move on, and we should find how we get better." 

Heyward added that the Steelers must embrace having "hard conversations" to rebound from the loss to Cleveland and to stop surrendering so many points. Over its past two games, Pittsburgh has allowed 27 points per game, above the league average.

The Steelers (2-2) host the Indianapolis Colts (2-2) on Sunday (CBS, 1 p.m. ET). Led by star running back Jonathan Taylor (353 rushing yards, tied for No. 5 in the NFL), the AFC South team enters Week 5 ranked 13th in the league in scoring (25.5 PPG). 

Pittsburgh's defense must show up in that matchup. Seven-time Pro Bowler Heyward will be seething again if it doesn't. 

Clark Dalton

Clark Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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