Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers Sounds Off on Will Howard Injury

Rookie quarterback Will Howard is unlikely to play during the 2025 NFL preseason because of a hand injury. While addressing the injury for the first time publicly, quarterback Aaron Rodgers expressed the strong disappointment a lot of Pittsburgh Steelers fans feel because of the injury.

“It sucks,” Rodgers told reporters, via TribLive.com’s Joe Rutter. “Sucks for him for sure because he’s had such a nice camp as a young player.

“Watching him at minicamp and seeing his command of offense, but this year is a growth year for him, a year to watch and learn.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday night Howard will miss three weeks.

“Steelers rookie QB Will Howard, who banged his throwing hand in practice, suffered a fractured small bone in his hand, sources say,” wrote Rapoport on X.

“He’s having additional tests, but it’s likely no surgery is required.”

Aaron Rodgers Disappointed in Will Howard Injury Prognosis

Rodgers presented the silver lining with Howard’s injury. He’s not Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback or even Rodgers’ direct backup.

So, one could call Howard’s 2025 campaign a redshirt year. That’s what Rodgers appeared to suggest Wednesday. Therefore, the team doesn’t lose anything with him missing three weeks in August.

But Howard will lose a lot initially from a development standpoint. That’s not a small loss with 2025 perhaps Howard’s only chance to prove he could be a future starting quarterback.

Howard’s best chance to show he could be a future starter was the 2025 preseason. But with the hand injury, he likely won’t play at all.

The Steelers drafted Howard at No. 185 overall during the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

The team then added Rodgers in early June on a one-year contract. Rodgers told The Pat McAfee Show in June that 2025 will likely be his final season.

Next offseason, pundits expect the Steelers to draft a quarterback in the first round. While Howard isn’t likely to play much (if at all) during the 2025 regular season, the rookie quarterback may only have this year to deter the Steelers from investing in a first-round signal-caller.

Howard will now probably have to do that without preseason action.

Howard Expecting to Miss 3 Weeks Comes as Surprise

The rookie quarterback suffered his hand injury during Tuesday’s practice. But Steelers insider Mark Kaboly reported the ailment was minor.

Kaboly then tweeted that the seriousness of the injury surprised even the Steelers.

“Originally it was believed that Will Howard was fine,” Kaboly wrote. “Now out a month. Don’t think they were anticipating that.”

But with Howard now projected to miss the preseason, even his roster spot could be in jeopardy.

“If there was one quarterback on the Steelers roster who really needed to play during the 2025 preseason, it was Howard,” wrote Heavy.com’s Michael Obermuller. “Pittsburgh only committed a sixth-round pick on the Ohio State QB, so a spot on the 53-man roster is not guaranteed.”

Without Howard, Rodgers, Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson are Pittsburgh’s healthy quarterbacks. A seventh-round pick from 2022, Thompson has appeared in 10 NFL games.

Howard was already ahead of Thompson on the team’s first preseason depth chart. But anything can change with one quarterback playing and the other sidelined.

The Steelers will open the preseason Saturday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.