When Will Howard took his first live snaps during team portions of Pittsburgh Steelers practice three weeks ago, it quickly became apparent to him that it had been about 2 1/2 months since he had done so.
“I was like, ‘Man, it feels like I haven’t played football in forever,’ ” Howard said after Thursday’s practice at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “It was the longest I’ve gone without playing in a long time. It was definitely like knocking the rust off, but I feel like I’m getting better every week. I feel like I’m about back to where I was and want to just keep going like this.”
The Steelers’ sixth-round pick after leading Ohio State to the national championship last season, Howard is on track to dress for the first time as a pro. He will serve as the No. 3 “emergency” quarterback for Sunday’s home game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Howard was activated off of the injured reserve list Wednesday, 21 days after he returned to practice and thus opened up a window during which he had to be added back to the 53-man roster.
“It’s a blessing,” Howard said. “I’m really thankful that they made the decision to … activate me because … we have (starting QB Aaron Rodgers), so it’s not necessarily like I’m coming up to play (in a game) but it’s more for my growth and development.
“That means a lot that they were willing to do that for me, and I just don’t want to make them regret it.”
Howard spent his time on IR learning from the 41-year-old Rodgers and 30-year-old Mason Rudolph. Barring injury to one of those two, for the remainder of the season Howard figures to be running the scout team at practice and spending gamedays in uniform on the sidelines.
“Wednesday, Thursday, Friday are my game days, so I’m out there trying to make every rep as competitive and as real as possible,” Howard said. “I think I’ve done a pretty good job of it so far, but I’ve just got to keep it going. It’s a day-by-day process. I know Rome’s not going to be built in a day, but just if I can get a little bit better every single day, that’s all that matters.”
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
