Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard was unable to play in the preseason Week 1 game last week, but will he see some snaps in preseason Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Here's what we know.
Is Will Howard playing tonight? Latest update on Steelers rookie's injury, status originally appeared on The Sporting News
Fresh off a joint practice this week, the Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET.
The Steelers only played two of their four quarterbacks in preseason Week 1, with both Will Howard and Aaron Rodgers not seeing any snaps. Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson were given the nod instead.
It looks like it'll be status quo for Rodgers, as head coach Mike Tomlin revealed his veteran starting quarterback would not play once again this week, and neither will the rest of the starters.
"I'm going to play this preseason game very much like we did the first one," Tomlin said on Thursday. "In terms of participation, the same collection of guys that were held out the last time will comprise the guys that are held out this time."
As for Howard, he didn't suit up last week because of a broken finger. Here's what we know about his status for this week.
Is Will Howard playing tonight?
Howard will not be playing against the Bucs on Saturday night as he continues to recover from his broken pinky finger, which was suffered during a quarterback-center exchange in practice.
"It sucks," he said of the injury. "Every ounce of me wants to be out there playing, and I'm just kinda sitting here doing nothing. It kills me."
"But, you know, things happen, and it's about how you respond to it, and how you handle the adversity... I gotta continue to stay locked in and make sure I'm still on my stuff and locked in during meetings and during practice and still getting all the mental reps, because this time is still important for me," Howard added.
Will Howard injury update
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Howard is expected to be sidelined for "at least three weeks" from the date of his injury, which is Aug. 5.
The good news is, Howard confirmed he didn't need surgery on his finger, which would have led to an even longer absence.
With the injury occurring at the Aug. 5 practice, the aforementioned timeline puts his return at around Aug. 26, which comes after the final preseason game on Aug. 21. Unfortunately, chances are Howard won't get any preseason reps.
Tomlin did leave the door slightly ajar for Howard to get back before the end of the preseason in order to get some live-game reps, but given the aforementioned timeline from Rapoport, we wouldn't bet on it.
Assuming Howard doesn't return sooner than expected, we might have to wait until 2026 to see him in an actual football game.
Seeing as how he's listed as the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart, Howard is going to serve as the emergency quarterback on gamedays. That means he'll be inactive and can only come into a game if both Rodgers and Rudolph sustain injuries.
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