Steelers’ Will Howard is staying optimistic about his chances at quarterback despite a ‘freak accident’ that caused a broken bone
All he can do.
Preseason is typically a time of optimism around the NFL.
It’s like spring after a long winter, where all 32 teams have a sense of renewal and hope.
But nothing thwarts that optimism more than injuries. And with Will Howard unable to play due to a broken bone in his throwing hand, he’s doing everything he can to stay ready and positive…
Will Howard is doing his best after ‘freak accident’
“I mean, it sucks. Every ounce of me wants to be out there playing and I’m just sitting here doing nothing,” Howard told the media on Tuesday. “It kills me, especially on something what felt like dumb to me, you know, just a freak accident. But things happen. It’s about how you respond to it. I wish I could go back and change it. I wish I could be out there playing. But the fact of the matter is, it happened. I’ve got to continue to stay locked in and make sure I’m still on my stuff, being locked in during meetings and during practice and still getting all the mental reps, because this time is still important for me . . .
” . . If I want to continue on the trajectory that I was on, and I felt like, you know, I was doing well, I need to continue to make steps and make strides, even though I can’t necessarily do it physically out there.”
Howard would add that he doesn’t need surgery and that the injury occurred in a period of team run, when his finger got jammed up really badly in a center-quarterback exchange. Howard said he tried to play through the pain, but quickly realized that he couldn’t grip the football.
The injury brings the Howard hype train to a screeching halt. That is especially true when you see what Sklyar Thompson just did in Week 1 of the preseason against the Jaguars. But Howard was arguably having the best, or at least the most consistent, camp of any of the Steelers’ passers.
That has to be taken with a grain of salt, given that he didn’t receive a ton of reps against the first team defense, but Howard looked very good before the injury.
I wouldn’t bet against him making his way back sooner rather than later, however, and while a return in the preseason feels very unlikely, it should be noted that Mike Tomlin hasn’t ruled it out.
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