Rookie Drew Allar has 2 TD passes, 1 TD run as Steelers beat Packers 28-9 in preseason opener

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike McCarthy loves playing the role of teacher during what he calls “Quarterback School,” shorthand for his highly detailed process of teaching young signal callers the finer points of their position.

The first-year Pittsburgh Steelers coach's latest pupils are proving to be quick studies.

Rookie Drew Allar threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another and Will Howard directed a long scoring drive of his own as the Steelers breezed past the Green Bay Packers 28-9 on Thursday night.

Allar, a third-round pick from Penn State, was 10 of 13 for 154 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Wetjen and a 4-yard flip to Riley Nowkowski. The 22-year-old Allar, who entered to chants of “Drewwww," also sprinted into the end zone for a 3-yard score as the Steelers made McCarthy's debut leading his hometown team a successful one.

“I thought they were very poised,” McCarthy said. “I said I like the way (the quarterbacks) played, especially the young guys.”

Howard, a sixth-round pick last year who hadn't played since leading Ohio State to the 2025 College Football Playoff championship, was 7 of 9 passing for 86 yards and looked comfortable directing the 2-minute offense that ended with a 1-yard touchdown dive by Lew Nichols.

The Steelers outgained Green Bay 385-160, and collected yardage in huge chunks at times on plays that had receivers running wide open against a vanilla defense more focused on fundamentals than elaborate schemes for a game that didn’t count.

“I think it really shows how QB-friendly this system can be,” Howard said. “When we execute the way that we want like all of us, I feel like, did tonight, we can be a really, really fun offense.”

Pittsburgh star Aaron Rodgers, who said this week he doesn’t think he needs to play during his 22nd and final training camp, caught up with Love and other Green Bay players and staff and then watched from the sideline with a headset on as his last NFL team faced his first.

The 42-year-old’s spot atop the depth chart is secure. What happens behind him is anyone’s guess as Howard, Allar and veteran Mason Rudolph compete for the right to still have a job when rosters are trimmed to 53 on Aug. 30.

Rudolph started and completed 10 of 11 passes for 93 yards and put together a long drive that ended with Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth tackled at the Green Bay 1 on fourth down.

Green Bay starter Jordan Love was 3 of 5 passing during one series of work while leading the Packers on an opening drive that ended with the first of rookie Trey Smack's three field goals. Love wasn’t hit during his brief appearance, a welcome development after he injured his left (non-throwing) hand against the New York Jets during the preseason last year.

Packers coach Matt Lafleur praised the performance of Smack, whom Green Bay traded up in the sixth round to pick in this year's draft.

Smack made kicks of 58, 38 and 37 yards and drilled another 58-yarder that didn't count when Green Bay opted to take a personal foul penalty against the Steelers to extend a drive that later ended with Smack converting a shorter field goal.

“Really, really strong first performance,” Lafleur said. “Now he's got to stack it.”

Smack, who said he connected with former Packers kicker Ryan Longwell recently to gain some tips on how to kick in Green Bay, shrugged off his play at Acrisure Stadium, which isn't typically friendly to kickers.

“Every kick’s kind of the same,” he said. “I try to hit the ball the best I can. I hit that 38-yarder, I don’t know how far it was, and the deeper one, I kind of treated it as the same.”

McCarthy stressed the biggest goal of the season was to emerge from it healthy. To that end, many of the club's bold-faced names joined Rodgers in sweats. Longtime Steelers defensive captain Cam Heyward, outside linebacker T.J. Watt, wide receivers DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman and running backs Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle also had the night off.

The game had all the trappings of a preseason opener, including some sloppy play on both sides. Pittsburgh was flagged 11 times for 135 yards while the Packers were penalized nine times for 76 yards.

Packers: Backup tackle Darian Kinnard exited in the third quarter. ... Defensive tackle Anthony Campbell left late in the third quarter with a significant limp.

Steelers: Reserve cornerback D'Shawn Jamison left in the first quarter

Packers: Visit the Denver Broncos on Aug. 21.

Steelers: Host the New York Jets on Aug. 21.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love throws a pass in the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, left, and Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, right, greet each other on the field before a preseason NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, left, talks with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, right, during warmups before a preseason NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Drew Allar (16) celebrates his touchdown run as Green Bay Packers' Shemar Bartholomew (34) looks on in the second half of a preseason NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Max Hurleman (84) and quarterback Drew Allar (16) celebrate Allar's touchdown run in the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the United States and South Korea ahead of their upcoming military drills, which Pyongyang called a war rehearsal that would be more provocative than last year.

The warning is typical of the harsh rhetoric that North Korea often deploys ahead of major U.S.-South Korean military exercises and suggests the country could conduct more missile tests in coming days. Experts say North Korea has often used its rivals' drills as a pretext to ramp up its testing activities to expand its weapons arsenals and promote public support for leader Kim Jong Un.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries are to start their major summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises Monday and have described their scope as similar to past years. The allies have said the 11-day exercises are meant to strengthen their readiness against North Korean threats and reiterated that they are defensive in nature.

In a statement carried by state media Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the U.S.-South Korean training “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that is triggering a different level of instability in the region.

“It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent,” the statement said. North Korea “will more clearly express its stance on the enemies to cope with any threats and challenges through the responsible and decisive exercise of the right to legitimate self-defense.”

North Korea also said the drills would be of a “more serious provocative nature and dangerousness than last year” and involve all the military assets and war-fighting modes of the U.S. and South Korea, a claim that those countries haven’t said.

A U.S. military statement issued Friday said U.S. and South Korean forces will practice joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and maneuver, a wet gap crossing, and distribution of prepositioned military equipment.

North Korea's neighbors detected two ballistic missile launches off the North's east coast in the past week. North Korea hasn’t commented on the launches, but outside experts assess they were likely meant to protest the U.S.-South Korean drills or upgrade its weapons systems.

Kim has ignored the U.S. and South Korea’s offers to resume diplomacy and focused on taking steps to bolster his nuclear arsenal since his diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump broke down in 2019. Experts say Kim will likely eventually aim to use his advancing nuclear program to win greater U.S. concessions such as extensive sanctions relief.

North Korea has expanded cooperation with Russia in recent years by supplying troops and ammunition to support its war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance. North Korea has also recently pushed to deepen ties with China, its biggest trading partner.

FILE - A vehicle from U.S. Army's the Stryker Combat Team crosses a floating bridge on the Namhan River during the combined river-crossing drill between South Korea and the United States as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield 25 in Yeoju, South Korea, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)