Aaron Rodgers will wait a minimum of one other week earlier than he performs in his first recreation as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rodgers is among the many Steelers veterans who will not see the sector when the Steelers face the Jaguars in Saturday night time’s preseason opener, according to coach Mike Tomlin.
Together with Rodgers, wideout DK Metcalf, tight finish Jonnu Smith, guard Isaac Seumalo, working again Jaylen Warren, cornerbacks Darius Slay, Joey Porter Jr. and Jalen Ramsey, security DeShon Elliott, linebackers Nick Herbig, T.J. Watt, Patrick Queen, defensive deal with Cam Heyward and kicker Chris Boswell additionally will not play.
Whereas he is open to taking part in within the preseason, Rodgers apparently would not see a lot worth in it. The 41-year-old quarterback primarily mentioned as a lot when he was requested Wednesday about the opportunity of taking part in in any of Pittsburgh’s upcoming preseason video games.
“I am completely on board,” Rodgers mentioned, per 93.7 The Fan. “If [Tomlin] desires me to play, I will play. If not, then I will not. … Preseason football is just not essentially actual soccer, as a result of defenses do not actually do rather a lot.”
Rodgers is correct. Whereas there are some clear advantages to preseason football (like going in opposition to somebody aside from your teammates), there is not rather a lot that may be gained in the event you’re a participant of Rodgers’ caliber. As Rodgers acknowledged, offenses aren’t going through defenses which can be recreation planning in opposition to them, and vice versa.
Actually, the preseason at this level is used extra to find out place battles as coaches attempt to get their rosters right down to 53 gamers. It isn’t particularly important for established gamers, however it is crucial for bubble gamers and backups who could not get a whole lot of stay reps when the common season begins.
Conversely, Rodgers mentioned that Pittsburgh’s upcoming joint follow with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will probably be much more beneficial as a result of defenses are inclined to run their full menu of performs in joint practices versus a preseason game, when recreation plans are often extra vanilla.
What ought to make Pittsburgh’s joint follow with Tampa Bay much more useful is the actual fact Rodgers and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will probably be matching wits with Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles, one of many NFL’s most gifted defensive minds. It ought to actually be take a look at for a Steelers’ offense that has been going through what Metcalf not too long ago mentioned is the “best defense I’ve ever seen” every day.
“Our protection, clearly we added a whole lot of items to it,” Rodgers said. “At all times early in camp, with the pads going, the protection appears to have the sting, after which second week, it begins to show a bit of bit. So I really feel like we have been taking part in higher.”