The Thursday night preseason contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers will be the final dress rehearsal before the regular season for both teams.
While the Panthers are not going to play their starters, the Steelers will be playing most of theirs, with the exception of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, wide receiver DK Metcalf, outside linebacker T.J. Watt and defensive lineman Cam Heyward.
This will be the last opportunity for rookies and those on the roster bubble to make their final statement before final cuts on Aug. 27.
One of the most high-profile rookies on the Steelers' roster is quarterback Will Howard, who was sidelined for the first two preseason games due to injury.
Will we see Howard on Thursday night? Here's the latest update on his status for the game and how his recovery from injury is coming along.
No, Will Howard won't be suiting up for the preseason Week 3 contest against the Panthers because of a broken pinky finger. That means quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson will divvy up the snaps for Pittsburgh.
After initially suffering the injury on Aug. 5, Howard was reportedly going to miss "at least three weeks," which would put his earliest return date at Aug. 26, one day before final cuts on Aug. 27.
"I can normally tolerate pain pretty well," Howard said of the injury. "I literally could not grip the football. So, I knew something was messed up."
According to Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly, Howard was spotted with a smaller wrap on his hand during practice on Tuesday, which is a good sign he's progressing through his recovery.
While Howard has been sidelined for quite some time because of the injury, the expectation is the sixth-round rookie will make the 53-man roster.
Pittsburgh doesn't have a long-term solution under center, seeing as how Rodgers is likely to retire after this season, so it only makes sense to keep Howard as a developmental option in the hopes he can become the starter in the future.
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