Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Give Response To Rookie Will Howard's Injury

The Pittsburgh Steelers are always excited to see how the young guns of the team can step up during training camp and the preseason. However, rookie quarterback Will Howard suffered a fractured hand recently and is now expected to probably miss all of preseason. He had been having a great training camp as well, and he seemed to be a lock for the 53-man roster. Now, all he can do is watch from the sidelines and attend meetings as Skylar Thompson tries to take his spot as the third man on the depth chart. 

Howard has been learning a lot from veteran passer Aaron Rodgers. The two seemed to have a great relationship as the rookie is looking at the veteran as a wealth of knowledge. Instead of talking about that, Rodgers had to recently speak on his thoughts about the first-year passer getting injured. 

"It sucks. Sucks for him for sure because he's had such a nice camp as a young player and then watching him in minicamp and just seeing his command of the offense," Rodgers said. "But this year is a growth year for him."

Howard was never expected to see any time in the regular season with Rodgers and Mason Rudolph as the top two quarterbacks, but missing all of preseason in your rookie year is not exactly helpful. Even with how elite Pittsburgh's defense supposedly is, facing a different unit and seeing how it tries to trick you is always helpful. Now, Howard will have to likely wait a year before getting that chance. 

It probably hurts Rodgers a bit to see Howard go down as well. He was like Howard's personal coach ever since the veteran signed before mandatory minicamp. He watched Howard torch different levels of defense for weeks and never taking a day off. Now, all he can do is help the rookie through his rehab and give him advice on that front. 

Howard had quickly become a fan favorite during training camp with his performances. Even when the first- and second-team offenses were getting annihilated, the rookie gave some hope and excitement to the fans. In fact, his connection with undrafted tight end JJ Galbreath has led to the pass-catcher having a realistic chance of making the 53-man roster. Even if Howard only suits up as the emergency third quarterback, he still may have contributed to the team in a positive way.

In fact, there were rumors that Howard had started competing for Rudolph's job as the primary backup. That's not even because Rudolph was playing that poorly; the sixth-round pick was just that impressive. With no preseason reps for him, Rudolph has now won the backup role by default. That's never how you want to win a job, but all he can do it take it for the year.

Steelers' Future Outlook With Howard

The expectation is that the Steelers will spend plenty of draft capital to move up in the 2026 draft and select their future franchise quarterback. Howard was never really expected to compete for the starting job anyways, so this is nothing unusual. However, he will still get another shot at competing for the primary backup role then. 

Rudolph is also under contract through 2026, so they will have another chance to duke it out for a better spot on the depth chart. Depending on who the Steelers draft, however, there could be some competition for the starting spot as well. Pittsburgh is known for not trusting rookies too much, so Rudolph could enter the offseason with pole position. With likely no playing time in 2025, it would be hard for the sixth-rounder to overtake him in the eyes of his coaches.