The Pittsburgh Steelers officially have three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster for the first time since Week 1.

Pittsburgh announced a slew of roster moves ahead of their Week 11 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, with the most prominent being the fact that rookie signal caller Will Howard was activated from the reserve/injured list as his 21-day practice window was set to close.

Howard, who suffered a hand injury during training camp, will now remain on the practice field for the remainder of the campaign and continue developing while serving as the team’s No. 3 quarterback behind Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph.

Jul 24, 2025; Latrobe, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard (18) participates in drills during training camp at Saint Vincent College. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Howard’s Injury and Recovery

Howard was among the standouts during the Steelers’ rookie minicamp in May and rebounded from a self-admittedly rough start to OTAs, which put him in an advantageous position heading into training camp.

While he improved at Saint Vincent College, Howard suffered a bit of a freak injury on a center exchange right before the preseason began. He was sidelined for Pittsburgh’s entire exhibition slate as a result and was placed on IR around the time of final roster cuts.

There was some speculation that the Steelers would consider keeping the 24-year-old on IR for the entire year so that preseason star Skylar Thompson could remain on the 53-man roster throughout the season, but a hamstring injury sustained by the latter ahead of Week 1 resulted in an IR trip for him as well.

Howard ended up being ahead of Thompson in their respective recoveries, and after registering as a full participant in practice over the past few weeks since his return window was opened, the rookie is now set to rejoin Pittsburgh’s active roster.

Howard’s Return is Big News

Now that Howard is available, he’ll serve as insurance at the most important position on the field after Pittsburgh previously hadn’t carried an emergency No. 3 quarterback since Thompson was placed on IR.

There’s almost no world in which Howard sees the field ahead of Aaron Rodgers or Mason Rudolph as the team’s bona fide third option at the position, but getting regular season snaps isn’t overly important for him at this stage in his development.

Howard is still a work in progress, meaning the fact that he’s been getting back into the full swing of things in practice and picking up extra reps is more important to his growth as a player than having the opportunity to be thrown into games when he likely isn’t ready for that kind of action.