Despite holding in and not practicing for much of training camp, Cam Heyward is expected to start Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers when they open the season against the New York Jets.

Heyward hinted last month that he was open to sitting out regular-season games if he doesn’t get a reworked contract, but coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that the team’s longest tenured player will be on the field at MetLife Stadium.

“I’m certainly expecting Cam to play,” Tomlin said at his weekly pressure conference.

Heyward continued to play coy when asked on his podcast whether he will play Week 1.

“We’ll see,” Heyward said.

Heyward, 36, has two years left on the contract he signed last summer and on Monday, he was named a team captain for the 11th consecutive season. He believes he outplayed the terms of that deal when he was named to the first-team All-Pro list for the fourth time in his career. Heyward collected a $13.45 million roster bonus in March and will play on a $1.3 million base salary this season.

When he last spoke to reporters Aug. 11, Heyward indicated he would like a portion of next year’s $12.95 million roster bonus applied to this year’s salary, but the Steelers have held firm that they negotiate contracts only when a non-quarterback has one year remaining.

Heyward, who has not made himself available for interviews in recent weeks, resumed practicing late in training camp but did not play in the preseason, which isn’t out of the norm.

“Cam doesn’t play a lot in team development the last several years,” Tomlin said. “My job is to get him in and out of Latrobe. I’ve done my job. There are no reservations about his participation or readiness. I’m sure he’s champing at the bit.”

The Steelers are already down one member of the defensive line. Rookie first-round pick Derrick Harmon was ruled out by Tomlin from playing in the opener because of a knee injury. Fellow rookie Yahya Black is listed as the backup to Harmon on the depth chart the Steelers released Tuesday. Isaiahh Loudermilk and Daniel Ekuale are listed as the backups to Heyward and nose tackle Keeanu Benton, respectively.

“It’s going to be a committee of people,” Tomlin said. “I’m sure it would have been a committee of people were (Harmon) available. We play a lot of d-linemen particularly early in the season due to a lack of conditioning and the potential heat.”

Harmon is the only player that Tomlin said is out for the opener. Backup outside linebacker Nick Herbig, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, is listed as questionable.

“He had a really good day yesterday,” Tomlin said. “We’ll leave the door ajar for him.”

Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith (groin) and wide receiver Calvin Austin (abdominal) did not play in the preseason, but they have returned to full participation in practice.

“We’re largely a healthy group,” Tomlin said. “We don’t anticipate any of those guys’ ability being in any way questionable.”

Tomlin begins speaking at the 9:50 mark

Follow TribLive’s Joe Rutter and Tim Benz for updates on the Tomlin and the Steelers.