The next time Javon Hargrave takes the field, it’s entirely possible that he will be playing less than the last time he was in a game. That is because Cameron Heyward, one of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting defensive ends, had already for months been on injured reserve.
But the rookie logged 52 snaps on defense, or 70 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, in the AFC Championship game against the Patriots, even notching a sack in that game. And the experience playing so much in order to soak up the snaps that Heyward miss will have served as sufficient preparation for an expanded role in his second season.