All eyes were on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard on Friday night for his second preseason appearance. Howard turned in a stellar debut during the team’s preseason opener last week.
This week went quite differently.
Howard threw for fewer yards despite nearly twice as many attempts against the New York Jets on Friday. The second-year signal-caller also tossed two interceptions in Jets territory in the first half.
When asked to assess Howard’s performance during his halftime interview, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy focused on the turnovers.
“I thought the two drives, the long drives, which are what you’re looking for, you can’t turn the ball over,” McCarthy said to Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews. “It’s really a case of one mistake leads into two. So we’ve got to be better.”
Howard completed 10 of 15 passes for 74 yards. He averaged 4.9 yards per pass with two interceptions.
Howard also took one sack. The Steelers didn’t score in the first half with Howard playing quarterback.
Mike McCarthy Responds to Will Howard Throwing 2 Interceptions
GettyPittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy reacted to Will Howard’s two interceptions in the first half against the New York Jets on Friday.
McCarthy faced several questions about the team’s quarterback play Friday night, particularly Howard’s two interceptions. With one of his answers, the coach shared a very similar message as he did at halftime.
“It’s just one mistake leads to two. It happened on both plays. There’s something that wasn’t right,” McCarthy told reporters in his postgame press conference. “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 the part of playing.”
The two interceptions happened on back-to-back drives in the second quarter. Both were also third-down pass attempts.
The first came on third-and-14 at the Jets 14-yard line. The second occurred at the New York 37-yard line on third-and-5.
“It’s a shame. I don’t recall [exactly], but it was a 13, 14-play, it was a hell of a drive that he established,” McCarthy added. “Both of those were big plays in the game that if they go the other way, you’re feeling a little bit differently about his individual performance.”
Howard’s stat line was not nearly as impressive as last week’s. But to McCarthy’s point, the interceptions were the biggest duds of the night.
The second interception was Howard’s final pass of the night. Rookie Drew Allar played the second half.
That was preplanned before the game started. Howard wasn’t benched because of the two picks.
Steelers’ Mike McCarthy Reacts to Will Howard’s Pair of Interceptions