This offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Aaron Rodgers to be their starting quarterback. However, they also added some youth to that room, drafting Will Howard in the sixth round. While that doesn\u2019t make Howard the heir apparent to Rodgers, there\u2019s been a lot of excitement within the fan base about his potential. Unfortunately, he wasn\u2019t able to get on the field in the preseason because of a hand injury. Now on injured reserve, Howard detailed what ultimately put him there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an under-center snap, was how it happened,\u201d Howard said of his injury Wednesday on the Downs 2 Business podcast.<\/a> \u201cThe doctors were like, \u2018We\u2019ve never seen anything like this happen.\u2019 Snapped it into my hand and jammed my pinky out and it broke this bone right here. It was crazy. Everyone was like, \u2018I thought you just jammed your finger.\u2019 I finished that drill, had a couple plays, then I went to the next drill.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t even grab the football. I was like, \u2018Something is messed up, I have to get this checked out.\u2019 And I went up, I was like, \u2018I\u2019ll be right back down. I\u2019m just going to get X-rayed, make sure I\u2019m cool.\u2019 Went up there, sure enough, it was broken.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s unfortunate, but in the NFL, accidents happen. At the time of his injury, it was unclear how much time Howard would miss. Mike Tomlin even left the door open<\/a> for him to play in the preseason. However, it ended up being more severe than anyone realized.<\/p>\n Luckily, it doesn\u2019t sound like Howard should be hampered by his injury for much longer. He recently revealed that he\u2019ll start throwing again soon.<\/a> While that doesn\u2019t mean that he\u2019s coming off injured reserve anytime soon, it\u2019s a good sign that Howard won\u2019t be affected by this issue in the long run.<\/p>\n Even after the Steelers activate him, assuming they do, it\u2019s unlikely that Howard will get into an actual game this season. Rodgers is the starter, and Mason Rudolph is the backup. Currently, Skylar Thompson is third on the Steelers\u2019 depth chart at quarterback. Pittsburgh would need to have very rotten injury luck for Howard to get on the field.<\/p>\n That makes him missing the preseason sting even more. Those reps would\u2019ve been valuable for Howard. Now, he has to focus on the mental side on the game.<\/p>\n