A few days after he seemingly had taken up residence in the Buffalo Bills’ offensive backfield, Cameron Heyward wasn’t quite willing to say it was the best game of his career.

“I don’t really try to rank them as an individual performance,” Heyward said Thursday.

Polite modesty after pressuring Josh Allen on almost a third of his dropbacks? Perhaps you’d think that if you’d heard him speak from UPMC Rooney Sports Complex before practice.

But then you’d hear what Heyward had to say just a few moments later.

“Playing with this team,” Heyward said, “I feel like I’m the best (defensive lineman) in the NFL.”

Coming off a fourth consecutive season of Pro Bowl recognition — three of which were first- or second-team All Pro accolades — Heyward can feel emboldened to say such things.

After Sunday’s 23-16 win at Buffalo, though, is a good time for the NFL community to consider it fact that Heyward is one of the best — if not outright best — interior defensive linemen in the game.

Heyward had a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery (on separate plays), two tipped passes and a QB hit of Allen four days ago. Those are his official NFL statistics for the game. Pro Football Focus credited Heyward with 12 “pressures” — second most in the NFL for Week 1 — including a league-most 11 “hurries” of Allen.

“We see him dominate here at practice. Nobody can stop his bull rush,” fellow veteran Steelers defensive lineman Tyson Alualu said.

“The same thing he does Sundays is the same thing he does on the practice field. He’s the type of leader you want, and you don’t want to let him down.”

Heyward can move into the top 25 in all-time Steelers games played if he appears in 16 of their contests in 2021. Among defensive players, he can end the season 12th in Steelers history if he plays in 14.https://t.co/f1fjOYeftW

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 4, 2021

In his 11th season and having turned 32 this spring, Heyward has been an increasingly frequent target of good-natured ribbing about his age. Coach Mike Tomlin grinned when that was brought up during Tomlin’s weekly news conference.

“I’m going to continue to joke about Cam’s age,” Tomlin said. “We’re all motivated in different ways. Cam is one of those guys that’s always looking for reasons to rise up in the face of something. You throw his age in his face, and even though he knows what you’re doing, he has to respond. That’s the competitor that that man is.”

Heyward said Thursday that as much as he might appreciate the opportunity to accept the added fuel to his competitive fire, he’s on to Tomlin’s tactics. Heyward does, however, tap another source of motivation that could raise some eyebrows.

“If I could be honest, there are a lot of other players who are really good at my position, but I don’t see any reason why they’re better than me,” Heyward said. “Just me being honest. I feel like I put in the work, and I try to be the best D-lineman in the league.”

Heyward didn’t drop any names, but it’s a reasonable guess that he was referring to Aaron Donald as a defensive lineman who has been more celebrated than him. The former Penn Hills and Pitt star is the only other player at the position who has made All Pro at least three of the past four seasons. Donald, of the Los Angeles Rams, has been first-team every year since 2015. He claimed the league’s defensive player of the year honor three of the past four seasons.

Heyward and Donald are the only defensive tackles who have been named first-team AP All Pro twice over the past eight seasons (Geno Atkins earned it in 2012 and ’15).

“(Heyward’s) preparation and how much he cares about his craft … you see him out here every day,” Alualu said. “He … still approaches the game like he’s trying to earn something. With all the accolades he has, it doesn’t mean everything if he’s not producing. It’s a production league, and you see the product of all the hard work he puts in in the offseason and at practice.”

Defensive coordinator Keith Butler noted Heyward’s status as a defensive captain seven years running and that Heyward serves as the Steelers’ NFLPA rep.

“He feels like he’s a big part of this franchise,” Butler said. “Which he is. He’s a big part of this franchise.”

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