Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haksins had a golden opportunity to solidify a spot on the Steelers final roster as he was starter for Pittsburgh in their final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Friday.
Haskins fumbled his chance, and now faces the real possibility of being a casualty of final roster cuts. Haskins had a brutal start to the game, and finished completing 9 of 16 passes, 1 touchdown and 1 interception to post a 71.9 quarterback rating.
“Like the rest of us, I didn’t think it was enough varsity work from him,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said of Haskins’ performance (h/t ESPN). “It wasn’t the type of performance he wanted or we wanted. But such is life.”
“It was a tough one,” Haskins said. “I wanted to play better. I know we wanted to do better as a team. Just have to watch some film, prepare and get ready.”
Haskins was given another opportunity after Josh Dobbs, who took over for Haskins, suffered a turf toe injury, which forced Haskins back into the game.
“I felt having the two-minute opportunity was good just to get some in-game experience with that and of course, I wanted to start fast but we didn’t,” Haskins said. “Being able to finish in a way where we got some type of a rally after was a good way to finish the game.”
“I’m sure it did for him, in terms of getting that taste out of his mouth,” Tomlin said of Haskins. “Obviously, it had no consequence or bearing on the outcome of the game.”
“I feel like I’ve done a great job just showing that I’m coachable,” Haskins said. “Showing that I’m wanting to learn, wanting to get better. Just trying to put things on film that are something that I can showcase what I can do. The first three games are something I’m rather proud of and of course how we started is something I wanted better of.
“Best thing I can do is just hope that what I’ve done throughout preseason, throughout training camp is enough body of work to showcase and show how much I’ve improved.”
