Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard suffered a fractured small bone in his right hand on August 5. The injury has limited his participation in training camp and kept him out of team drills for the preseason, joint practice, and into the home stretch before the final roster cutdowns. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network originally reported that Howard would miss at least three weeks, but could he play Thursday night in Carolina?
Two weeks after suffering the injury, Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly of
The Pat McAfee Show spotted Howard with a brace on his right hand.
In the video, Howard caught a football with his left hand, never placed it in his right, and tossed it to a coach during drills.
The sixth-round pick out of Ohio State missed Pittsburgh’s first two preseason games, and it would be stunning to see him take the field in Carolina with no reps leading into his first NFL game.
“It does suck,” Howard told the media on August 12. “As much as I’m trying to be a good teammate to pump my brothers up, I’m trying as hard as I can to not be bugged by this a ton. The competitor in me would tear my left arm off if I could go back in there.”
With Howard sidelined and Mike Tomlin confirming that Aaron Rodgers won’t play, Mason Rudolph is in line to make his third start of the preseason against the Panthers. The Steelers could opt to put Howard on IR if he isn’t ready to go come the season opener on September 7.
Skylar Thompson completed 20/28 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns against Jacksonville two weeks ago, but followed it up with a more pedestrian performance facing Tampa Bay. Thompson threw for 115 yards, no scores, and one interception as all three Steelers QBs threw a pick.
Howard led the Big Ten in completion percentage (73%) and touchdowns (35) as a senior at Ohio State and guided the program to a national championship victory in Atlanta over Notre Dame.
