PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – On the surface, you might think it’s not that big of a deal if the third-string quarterback gets activated to likely not play in a game this year. For rookie Will Howard, it’s everything to open his window to potentially return to the active roster.
Howard has been out since early August when he broke a finger during a training camp practice in Latrobe in what he called a freak injury. It forced him to miss all of the preseason games and not get back to throwing a football in a practice setting until Wednesday.
“All that joy of being a little kid and playing football again came back,” Howard said. “My first two plays (Wednesday), it was scout team and I handed the ball off. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled more on two handoff plays in my life. I’m just happy to be back out there, man. It’s been a long time.”
Howard said he’s been 100% healthy for a little bit now. He said the Steelers were upfront that there was a plan to open the 21-day window to return to the active roster. The sixth-round pick just didn’t know when that was going to be.
It was tough for Howard to stay engaged. Hard to be present every day when he wasn’t even practicing, let alone had any chance to get into a game. He said he took it as a learning experience to try and be ready as if he was the starter.
The coaches had him do a number of things over the last couple of months. Howard would work quality control evaluating their own signals, plus study the opponent’s defensive calls. He broke down tape of the opponent’s corners. He would break down a game a week and occasionally put together a package of two-minute offenses around the league. Sometimes these films wouldn’t even be used, but Howard believes he profited from the effort.
Aaron Rodgers told him he broke down defensive signals when he started as a young quarterback in Green Bay and told Howard it’s good for him. It taught him how to watch film intently and essentially, like you learn how to study in high school or college, he was learning how to watch film.
It even got to the point where offensive coordinator Arthur Smith gave him a new nickname.
“Will has been incredible,” Smith said. “We did a lot of things behind the scenes to expedite his growth. What we could do without him actually doing the physical work. It’s been like having another quality control around the building, that’s why we call him Coach Will, but now he’s back to being a player.”
“Reps are reps, at this level, especially going against our first team defense,” Howard said. “I think a lot of people look at scout team as something you are skipping over. I think you can get a lot out of it when you really look at it the right way and approach it the right way.”
“The way I’m able to drive the ball and throw the ball and show that I can make NFL throws. Making sure I’m in the back getting mental reps, knowing where I would go with the ball if I was in.”
“Sometimes it’s hard when you are not getting the physical reps, but proving you can make the throws and do everything physically on the scout team and then also mentally making sure everyone knows you know what you are doing. Whether you are the fourth-string quarterback or first-string quarterback, if your offensive guys are looking at you and you don’t know what you are doing, something is messed up.”
“I think it’s really important for me to prove that I know the game plan in and out and attacking it like I would be playing.”
Rodgers cares
There has been a lot swirling about Rodgers this week playing against Green Bay for the first time. While all of those stories are being told, and his preparations made, Howard said Rodgers is always available to help.
“He’s been so gracious with his time, his energy towards me,” Howard said. “Anytime I ask him a little question, even if it’s something little, he will dive into a whole response about why he does this and what it’s good for.”
“It seems like he cares. He cares about giving back, which is rare. I really appreciate that because not all people are like that. It shows what kind of person he is.”