Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard broke the pinky finger on his throwing hand and will miss the team’s preseason opener on Saturday at Jacksonville, coach Mike Tomlin said Wednesday.

Howard is listed as week-to-week, according to the coach.

“He’s looking at his options,” Tomlin said. “I’ll have more information when it’s definitive, but he’s certainly out this week. It appears to be non-surgical, and so we’ll see.”

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

Howard 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 against the Jaguars.

Pittsburgh selected Howard in the sixth round of the April 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