Doctors 'Have Never Seen' Injury Like Steelers' Will Howard

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Steelers on SI
By Jack Markowski | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 11:00 AM ET

Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard fractured a bone in his right hand during a freak accident on a center exchange during training camp, holding him out of preseason action and landing him on injured reserve to begin the year.

While appearing on the "Downs 2 Business" podcast with former Ohio State teammate Caleb Downs and Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs, who are brothers, Howard went into detail on his ailment and the surprising nature of his diagnosis.

"It was an under-center snap was how it happened," Howard said. "The doctors were like, 'We've never seen anything like this happen.' Snapped it into my hand and jammed my pinky out and it broke this bone right here. It was crazy. Everyone was like, 'I thought you just jammed your finger.' I finished that drill, had a couple plays then I went to the next drill. I couldn't even grab the football. I was like, 'Something is messed up, I have to get this checked out.' And I went up, I was like, 'I'll be right back down. I'm just going to get X-rayed, make sure I'm cool.' Went up there, sure enough it was broken."

Howard was settling into his groove and coming off a string of strong performances at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. at the time of his injury. He lost out on valuable reps during the Steelers' three-game exhibition slate as a result while Skylar Thompson, who previously found himself as the team's QB No. 4, locked up a 53-man roster spot.

The next steps for the Steelers are figuring out whether or not it's worth it to activate Howard from IR. The 23-year-old revealed that he was starting to throw again during an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" last week, meaning he isn't all that far away from a potential return.

Pittsburgh could choose to stash him on IR even after he's healthy enough to fully get back into the swing of things in order to keep another veteran backup in Thompson around, but doing so may also stunt Howard's development as he gets acclimated to the team's offense and life in the NFL, even if he never enters a game this year.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Steelers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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