Steelers HC Mike McCarthy Gives Troubling Remark on Will Howard

Steelers HC Mike McCarthy Gives Troubling Remark on Will Howard After a lot of hot air during training camp about the QB3 battle between Will Howard and Drew Allar, there is game tape for head coach Mike McCarthy and his staff to watch after the Pittsburgh Steelers' 28-9 win over the Green Bay Packers in front of 64,164 fans at Acrisure Stadium. McCarthy hinted that the tape might not be as kind to Howard. The Steelers opted to sit Aaron Rodgers on Thursday night. His successor in Green Bay, Jordan Love, made three completions for 18 yards. Pittsburgh's QB2 Mason Rudolph had just one incompletion in 11 tries, throwing for 93 yards.  Howard, a second-year quarterback out of Ohio State, went 7 of 9 passing for 86 yards.  During his postgame news conference, McCarthy compared the play of Howard and Allar, noting Howard missed some opportunities. “I thought both Will and Drew, Will had some peaks and valleys there because some things that didn’t go quite right," McCarthy said. "And I thought he did a really good job on his composure, playing through the two-minute drill was excellent.   "And I even thought about giving Drew a two-minute drill at the end there, but I just, you get to that point in the game, you worry about just being healthy and so forth. But I really like the performance of all three quarterbacks tonight.” Allar was the star of the show, going 10 of 13 passing for 153 yards and two touchdowns. The third-round pick out of Penn State added a three-yard touchdown run two plays after he hit fellow rookie receiver Kaden Wetjen for a 74-yard pass in the third quarter.  In fairness to Howard and Allar, the latter quarterback was going against the Packers reserves in the second half. Both of Allar's touchdown passes came in the fourth quarter. To Allar's credit, he made the throws, but the competition in the fourth quarter of a preseason game just isn't the same as what he'd face in the regular season. McCarthy's comments on Howard are notable. The head coach saw some things about his play that the 2025 sixth-round pick will need to clean up if he hopes to make the 53-man roster. The Steelers will next host the New York Jets on August 21 for preseason game No. 2.