Will Howard and Drew Allar will get the chance to build off of their impressive NFL debuts Friday night against the New York Jets. Howard will start against New York, while Allar will get the remaining reps.
Aaron Rodgers, who didn’t play in the Steelers’ preseason-opening win over the Packers, will be inactive again on Friday night. Mason Rudolph, who started against the Packers and went 10 of 11 passing in two series of work, will also be inactive.
“They’re young,” McCarthy said when asked about his decision to give Howard and Allar the entirety of the reps against the Jets. “Will didn’t get to play last year. Drew’s a first-year player. Have two veterans I feel really good about, obviously, with Aaron and Mason. Saw what I needed to see from Mason last week. You know, I’ve talked highly about Mason really since the spring, so I really want to max out the opportunities with both Will and Drew.”
As McCarthy alluded to, this is Howard’s first preseason after he sustained an injury during the early portion of last year’s training camp. Against the Packers, Howard went 7 of 9 for 86 yards in three series of work. Sandwiched between two punts was an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive that saw Howard complete each of his four attempts for 67 yards that included a 17-yard strike to Ben Skowronek on fourth-and-1.
“I think Will has taken steps throughout camp,” McCarthy said when asked about Howard’s progress this summer and what he’s hoping to see from him on Friday night. “Maybe get off to a little better start than he did last time. Really, a couple of those plays weren’t really his fault as far as what happened.”
Allar built off his impressive training camp with a strong performance against the Packers. In three full series of work, the rookie fourth-round pick threw a pair of scores and ran for another while going 10 of 13 for 153 yards and compiling a 154.8 passer rating.
The former Penn State standout looked comfortable running the Steelers’ offense. He made quick decisions, threw accurate passes, spread the ball around and capitalized on his red zone opportunities. He was part of a Steelers quarterback room that went 27-for-33 for 313 yards and two touchdowns, with a 128.8 passer rating.
“Honestly, I feel like the adjustment for me at the NFL level came during rookie OTAs and OTAs in general,” Allar said afterward when asked about his successful debut. “More specifically, with this training camp cycle and going against a great defense every day with a challenging scheme that really challenges us as an offense. I feel like that really mentally prepared me to go out there and just handle everything.”
While Howard and Allar will get all the reps against the Jets, Rodgers’ status for Pittsburgh’s preseason finale against the Bills remains unknown. One of the reasons why Rodgers didn’t play against the Packers was because of the fact that McCarthy only wants him to play if Rodgers has his full complement of receivers at his disposal. DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman have missed practice and were inactive against the Packers as they are dealing with minor injuries. Their statuses for Friday night’s game are currently unknown.
Personnel aside, McCarthy said something else on Wednesday that appeared to suggest that Rodgers won’t see the field until Pittsburgh’s regular-season opener against the Falcons. McCarthy stressed the importance of the preseason for young quarterbacks. He also said that seeing the Steelers’ younger players will be the priority during the final two preseason games.
“Preseason football is great for young quarterbacks on so many fronts,” McCarthy said. “I mean, obviously they get to play. You want to see them command the offense, take the play entry, get up to the line scrimmage. If they get in trouble … if something goes wrong, if the route’s not the way it should be, or the right tackle doesn’t do the right thing, to be able to react to that and not be surprised by it.”
