Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard broke the pinky finger on his throwing hand and is out indefinitely, The Athletic reported.

The rookie left practice early Tuesday after suffering the right-hand injury, which is believed to have occurred as he took the ball from the center at training camp in Latrobe, Pa.

NFL Network said Howard was having additional tests but would miss at least three weeks.

That timeline would knock Howard out of preseason games, where he had hoped to compete with Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson for the backup job to Aaron Rodgers.

Now, his preseason learning is likely to come by watching veterans Rodgers and Rudolph and not through getting preseason reps. Howard, 23, was expected to get a long look in the preseason opener on Saturday in Jacksonville.

Pittsburgh selected Howard in the sixth round of April’s NFL draft out of Ohio State, where he led the Buckeyes to a national championship in his lone season at the school.

In four seasons at Kansas State and one at Ohio State, Howard threw for 9,796 yards, 83 touchdowns and 35 interceptions, including 4,010 yards, 35 TDs and 10 picks in 16 games last year.

–Field Level Media