PITTSBURGH — Cam Heyward is over all of the virtual stuff. The videoconferencing while sitting in a car in his driveway. The solitary workouts. The nagging discomfort of feeling separated from his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates.

All of it.

So when the club amended some of the health and safety protocols after the players threatened a boycott of the team’s offseason program, the veteran defensive tackle and a vast majority of the other 89 players on the roster showed up for the start of organized team activities, just as always.

“We were able to iron out some things and put the players’ (anxiety) at a low and players were still given the opportunity to understand they were not mandatory, it was voluntary,” Heyward said.

While the longtime defensive captain stressed he had zero problem with those who opted to stay away — pointing out players have become increasingly comfortable working out on their own, a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic — he added being in the building sent an important message.

“I wanted to make sure we didn’t ostracize the guys that went in,” Heyward said. “We had a lot of guys that love being in and we had to show this front that we didn’t want to jeopardize that.”

Heyward indicated he believes there will be 100% player participation during minicamp — which is mandatory — next month.

For now, the focus is on helping new faces get acclimated while getting a jumpstart on the team building that was difficult to come by last spring, when the entire offseason program was done remotely during the pandemic shutdown.

“I think it’s a big time for learning,” Heyward said. “And a lot of young guys tend to improve in this time, whether it’s first-year or second-year guys. So this time is really about getting those guys up to speed and teaching these guys.”