PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Back from concussion protocol and returning to practice on Thursday, Steelers quarterback Will Howard admitted to some ‘catastrophic’ mistakes in the preseason, but felt he did enough good to make the roster.
It’s not that he didn’t have many thoughts on Sunday waiting for news as the Steelers set the 53-man roster by 6pm.
“I mean, it's always stressful, you never know what exactly is going to happen and you know obviously you are kind of on your own just thinking and every possibility goes through your head, but you know I was confident and I felt like I had a good training camp,” Howard said.
Even though he admitted some of it left a sour taste in his mouth. And then on cut-down day he tried to escape.
“I went to church, and then I did a little hyperbaric chamber, and I went to X-Golf with my girlfriend and her sister,” Howard said. “I was just doing things to keep my mind off it and not worry about it. Obviously, we get to 6 o'clock and no news is good news.”
The second-year quarterback started last year on injured reserve with a broken thumb and was thankful to be able to recover from concussion symptoms to be ready for the beginning of this season. He’s not exactly sure what it’s going to look like in practice with four quarterbacks, and fewer receivers and linemen to try and get multiple groups to practice. Not to mention the focus now is on a weekly game plan.
He said they have started ‘young guy’ meetings that puts the emphasis on players who don’t get many reps in practice. They will do extra work before and after practice to try and compensate for the lack of work as the main team is preparing for a game. Howard feels as a quarterback, it’s his responsibility everyone is getting enough action.
When they do get an opportunity.
“It's just maximizing what we do get and taking the scout team reps as serious as we possibly can, all three of us,” Howard said. “And just maximizing every day.”
When the four got back together on Tuesday, he said there wasn’t much said because they were all confident in being a part of this team.
“I think you know between myself and Mason and Drew I think we have a really great quarterback and young quarterback room. Obviously, you know Aaron speaks for himself and all of his experience, but you know just going forward for the future I think it's something to be excited about.”
What 2nd year QB did before finding out he made roster, the plan now
What 2nd year QB did before finding out he made roster, the plan now
