Steelers' Cam Heyward responds to scathing Ben Roethlisberger comments

Defensive tackle Cam Heyward has featured for the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2011 and, thus, is quite familiar with former teammate and future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger. 

On Thursday, Heyward responded to Roethlisberger going scorched earth on aspects of the Steelers' culture. 

"You know, Ben has an opinion," Heyward said during an appearance on the NFL Network "Good Morning Football" program, as shared by Jarrett Bailey of Behind The Steel Curtain. "He’s entitled to that. But I don’t agree. These last two games [have] been rough, but the Steelers way is about grinding it out and it doesn’t matter what’s going on. So there’s plenty to be done about it and the tradition starts by winning games, having a good defense and scoring points. So hopefully we can adjust that this week."

Specifically, Roethlisberger suggested during his "Footbahlin' with Ben Roethlisberger" podcast after the Steelers fell to the lowly Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots in back-to-back flops that his former employer lacks true leaders on offense. Roethlisberger also questioned if the "Steeler way" is "done." 

Interestingly, Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson directly said last week that he felt Pittsburgh took what was a 2-10 Arizona side more "lightly than we should have." More recently, former Steeler Merril Hoge blasted Pittsburgh tight ends for being arguably "the worst group of route runners in the NFL" today. 

The 7-6 Steelers will look to right the ship when they play at the 7-6 Indianapolis Colts this coming Saturday. Both Pittsburgh and Indianapolis would be playoff teams if the postseason tournament began ahead of Week 15, and the ESPN Football Power Index gave the Steelers a 31.2% chance to make the playoffs as of Thursday afternoon. 

"They're a complete team," Heyward said about the Colts during the show segment, per Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports. "They find ways to win games. They're right in the thick of it. We're right in the thick of it. Should be a hell of a game." 

On Thursday afternoon, oddschecker listed the Steelers as 1.5-point underdogs against the Colts.