LATROBE, Pa. — Combined, it's been 873 days, 124 weeks and nearly 29 months since Will Howard or Drew Allar played a football game.
Beset by a finger injury and ankle injury, respectively, those two long layoffs both come to an end Thursday night when the Steelers open their 2026 preseason against the Green Bay Packers at Acrisure Stadium. While the status of Aaron Rodgers is up in the air, these two know it's their time either way.
"I'm so fired up. I can't wait for the game," Howard said Monday. "Obviously, I'm trying to take it day by day and it's still [training] camp, but sometimes you can't help but look forward a little bit and start getting excited to be out there in live, game reps."
Last time Howard prepared for such a scenario, he wound up leading Ohio State past Notre Dame to win the national championship, 34-23, in January 2025. Howard completed 17 of 21 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns in Atlanta without an interception.
He also used his legs whenever the Buckeyes needed him to that night, rushing 16 times for 57 yards. For as many practices as Howard has under his belt since then, nothing can simulate being a gamer who rises to the occasion when the lights are on.
"I know everyone says preseason football isn't real football," Howard said, "but to me, it is. I'm going to treat it as such, and go out there and make the most out of my reps. Because I know it is important."
Howard also hasn't lost since Ohio State began its four-game College Football Playoff run. For Allar, this will be his first chance to show his progress after a disappointing senior season at Penn State that included a three-game losing skid before he was sidelined for the second half of the year.
Allar has landed with a coaching staff that clearly believes in the quarterback he can be, rather than the one who fell on hard times with the Nittany Lions. That's why the Steelers drafted him with their first of three third-round picks and have given him plenty of snaps in training camp.
"Right now I've got to learn as much as I can, and as fast as I can," Allar said after Saturday night's practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.
Allar credited all three older quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph and Howard — for getting him up to speed and answering any questions he has, during and after practice. He also has head coach Mike McCarthy, offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio and quarterbacks coach Tom Arth working with him day in and day out.
Howard has been attached at the hip with Rodgers for more than a year now. Allar has been picking his brain on throwing the deep ball, specifically. Consider the 42-year-old starter eager to see how his mentorship pays off against his original team.
"It's a great experience the first time to be out there and be live," Rodgers said. "A lot of the interesting things you see in the preseason is the athleticism from the quarterbacks that you don't get to see in training camp.
"Because there are 'sacks' [in practice] and you extend plays, but it's different when the team is actually rushing you to sack you. And there can be some lanes to get through, and see how you do on the run, and protect yourself, not try and be a hero out there and try and run somebody over. It's not college anymore. There are some bigger, stronger, faster guys who are going to be coming after you. But I'm excited about watching both those guys."
It was 21 years ago this week, also on a Thursday night at home, that Rodgers was poised to make his preseason debut — only he wasn't that poised. And he'll be the first to admit it.
Despite being a first-round pick, Rodgers knew he'd spend his rookie year behind a future Hall of Famer in Brett Favre. He had to put his best foot forward in August action.
"It was my Super Bowl, for sure," Rodgers recalled with a grin. "Man, it was super important that I was so locked in and dialed in. Then you get out there and you run on the field and the nerves start flooding you. You start trying to slow your breathing down just to remember what the play was that you just heard in your helmet."
Rodgers completed just 2 of 6 passes for 7 yards in his first preseason game and was sacked twice. It's safe to say his NFL career turned out OK anyway.
That career began to blossom under the guidance of McCarthy and his meticulous quarterback training regimen. It's not quite the same in 2026 as it was back in 2006, but the fundamentals remain. Thursday, the young quarterbacks try to take the techniques they've been honing and flip the switch.
"You can look at the tape and say, 'Hey, I could've done better here and there' in hindsight," Howard said. "But in the moment, we're not worried about that at all. We're trying to focus on it in [individual drills], focus on it before practice, but once the bullets are flying, man, we're playing ball."
If there's anyone in the room who knows about thriving in the preseason environment, with teammates potentially shuttling in and out on both the offensive line and in the receiving corps, it's Rudolph. And he did it early in his Steelers tenure himself.
Rudolph tossed 7 touchdown passes to just 2 interceptions across his first two preseasons. Between 2022 and 2023, he completed 41 of 65 attempts for 419 yards and 3 touchdowns without an interception. It didn't amount to much at the time, but by the end of 2023, Rudolph was more than ready to step in as the starter to spark a three-game winning streak and ensuing playoff berth.
"I remember the headlines back from my rookie year with Landry Jones and Josh Dobbs, all the talk on who's going to be the backup," Rudolph said. "I think you learn quickly this is the time of year when the depth chart is most talked about. That's just normal. It comes with the territory. All you can really do is make the most of each of your reps."
