Will Howard’s second preseason outing with the Steelers came with a lot more bruises than his debut, but Mike McCarthy isn’t ready to hit the panic button.
The Pittsburgh quarterback threw two interceptions in his first preseason start, a rough turn after he had flashed against the Green Bay Packers a week earlier. Both picks came on the same route to Roman Wilson, a crossing pattern, and while there was some question about whether Wilson could have done more, Howard put the responsibility on himself.
“Performance wasn’t up to par. Obviously, just the little details.
Yeah, I mean, it’s a shame because those were both good drives. I felt like we were moving the ball really well.
Just one of the first things we talk about is protecting the football. Just got to be better and learn from it,” Howard said.
The mistakes came when Pittsburgh was moving the ball well, with both drives pushing into Jets territory before the interceptions ended them. Howard said the turnovers overshadowed what he felt were real signs of progress, especially in how he handled the pocket and worked through his reads.
“I felt really comfortable in the pocket. I felt like I was going through my progressions well, especially early first and second down.
Felt good about how I played, but those two turnovers really make it sour. It’s a shame because, like I said, we were driving the ball, we were in the red zone the one time, kind of in the logo, gold zone the other one.
We’re making progress, we’re getting the ball down there. We just got to be able to finish.
I felt like there were some good things out there tonight, but obviously if you don’t win the game, you turn the ball over, that’s unacceptable,” Howard said.
McCarthy said he never saw Howard unravel, even after the second interception. He pointed back to the Packers game, when Howard threw the ball into harm’s way over the middle but kept playing, as evidence that the rookie can absorb a bad moment without letting it snowball.
“It’s just one mistake that leads to two. It happened on both plays.
There’s something that wasn’t right. He played through it last week.
He had two things happen to him last week, he played right through it. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don’t.
That’s a part of playing. It’s a shame because I don’t recall but it was a hell of a drive that he established.
Both were big plays in the game that they go the other way, I think you’re feeling a little differently about his individual performance,” McCarthy said.
That’s the tension with Howard right now: the stock in a Steelers uniform may be at its lowest point after the two-interception night, but the team’s coach and the quarterback himself both believe the response matters more than the setback.
Howard gets another shot Thursday against the Buffalo Bills, a chance to wipe away some of the damage from his second preseason performance and show the bounce-back McCarthy is betting on.
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