PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – With a second preseason game going by without a chance to play, Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard holds out hope he can return from a hand injury after a ‘freak accident’.
There will be no surgery and now it’s about how quickly it heals.
“I’m doing what I can to stay ready,” Howard said. “If that opportunity presents itself, I will be ready. I just want to stay physically to stay in shape. We will see what happens. It’s killing me.”
The injury happened during team drills last Tuesday during training camp in Latrobe. Howard described it as a bad center-quarterback exchange that jammed his pinky finger on his throwing hand (right) so bad it broke. He tried to keep going that practice, but Howard said it quickly got to the point where he couldn’t grip the football.
“It sucks,” Howard said, a word he would use frequently. “Every ounce of me wants to be out there playing. I’m sitting here doing nothing and it kills me. Especially on something that felt dumb to me, a freak accident.”
There was no player that received as many cheers when they did something well as Howard. The excitement for the national championship quarterback not only came from Buckeyes fans, but from those who might believe he is one of those rare late-round finds that can lead a franchise for a decade.
Now he will likely be unable to return until after the preseason ends and then who knows how long it would take for him to be an effective practice squad QB.
“Things happen, it’s about how you respond to it and how you handle the adversity,” Howard said. “I wish I could go back and change it and I wish I could be out there playing, but the fact of the matter is it happened.”
“I need to continue to be locked in. Make sure I’m still on my stuff and locked in during meetings and practice and still getting all of the mental reps because this time is still important for me. Although I’m not getting the physical reps, I need to continue to get the mental reps if I want to continue on the trajectory I was on.”
“I felt like 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. I’m trying to maximize every day and make the best of it.”