On Thursday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said that quarterback Will Howard couldn't "go chasing" after throws as he tries to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. He needed to be "brilliant in the basics" while he waited for his moment to come.
On Friday night, Howard got his hand stuck in the cookie jar twice on throws that landed in the hands of New York Jets safety Andre Cisco and cornerback Samuel Womack III. The first interception came in the red zone. The second came from the Jets 37-yard line.
When speaking to reporters after the game, Howard unloaded on his performance in the Steelers' 17-0 loss to the Jets in front of a crowd of 64,497 at Acrisure Stadium. He admitted he didn't play well enough and called it a "shame" that his interceptions ended two solid drives.
"Performance wasn't up to par. ... Just the little details. ... It's a shame because those were both good drives," Howard said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.
"I felt like we were moving the ball really well. One of the first things we talk about is protecting the football. Got to be better and learn from it."
Howard finished the contest going 10 of 15 passing for 74 yards and two interceptions. He took one sack on the night.
It was a rough night for the second-year quarterback, as Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy sat Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph, which gave Howard and rookie quarterback Drew Allar a chance to earn more reps in the preseason.
Howard will have one more chance to impress the coaching staff when the Steelers travel to play the Buffalo Bills on Thursday.
Allar had a better night than Howard, but his play wasn't as electric as the performance he put up against the Green Bay Packers last week. He finished 11 of 23 passing for 110 yards. He took three sacks for -29 yards.
The Steelers appear to have the competition settled for the QB2 position with Rudolph. Now the question for Pittsburgh is whether Howard can show enough to be the fourth quarterback on the 53-man roster or if his only chance to remain with the Steelers this season is on the practice squad.
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