Pittsburgh Steelers CB Darius Slay and DL Cameron Heyward no longer have injury designations and are expected to play in Week 12 against the Chicago Bears, per Steelers’ senior director of communications Burt Lauten.
Both were previously listed as questionable heading into Sunday’s game.
The #Steelers are upgrading DT Cam Heyward & CB Darius Slay from their previous injury status designation. Both players are no longer questionable on the status report and are expected to play on Sunday in Chicago.
— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) November 22, 2025
Heyward did not practice all week, and was listed as NIR-Rest on Wednesday and Thursday before being added with an ankle injury yesterday. Clearly, the injury isn’t severe enough to sideline Heyward, and the Steelers will have a key piece of their defense available on Sunday against a Bears team that’s had a lot of success running the football this season.
Slay practiced in full on Wednesday and Thursday but was limited on Friday with a concussion. Slay missed the team’s Week 11 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but he will return and have a role against the Bears on Sunday. Last week’s game was the first game that Slay has missed this season, while Heyward has not missed a game this year.
QB Aaron Rodgers remains questionable for Sunday’s game with a wrist injury, while OLB Alex Highsmith remains doubtful. In Slay’s absence last week, CB James Pierre shined against the Bengals, and there’s a chance that Pierre could eat into some of Slay’s snaps on Sunday.
Heyward has been one of the most consistent defenders for the Steelers this season, and if he was out, the team would likely have turned to Esezi Otomewo or Yahya Black for a bigger role, while Brodric Martin-Rhodes may have gotten a helmet for the first time this year. But the Steelers will have Heyward available, which is great news for their defense.
This season, Heyward has 41 total tackles and 1.5 sacks with six pass breakups. With Chicago featuring a dangerous running back duo in Kyle Monangai and D’Andre Swift, having Heyward available to be a run stuffer and keeping the Steelers’ defensive line intact is especially important.
It’s positive injury news for the Steelers, while Bears fans got bad news on the injury front with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reporting that the team won’t activate top cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Johnson off IR for Week 12.
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