Aaron Rodgers hasn’t spoken yet to coach Mike Tomlin about whether he will play in the preseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He is open to the idea, though.
“I don’t think it’s in the plan for me to play this week, but whatever Mike wants to do, I’m fully on board,” Rodgers said Wednesday morning. “If he wants me to go out and play, I’ll play. If not, then I won’t.”
The Steelers open their preseason schedule Saturday night at the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Steelers are down one quarterback after rookie Will Howard broke a bone in his throwing hand Tuesday in practice. If Rodgers does not play, the Steelers will be down to backup Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson, who is listed as fourth on the depth chart.
Rodgers did not play in the preseason last year when he was with the New York Jets. He had eight attempts in the 2023 preseason with the Jets, and all his playing time came in the final preseason game. The Jets played four that year.
“With all due respect, preseason football is not necessarily real football because the defenses don’t do a whole lot. Offenses don’t, either,” Rodgers said. “You go out there with a very limited playbook against defenses playing one-high zone, one-high man or two-high zone. There’s not much pressure. … It’s really about the operation. That is where you can gain something from the preseason.
“You have 40 seconds. Call the play, get to the line of scrimmage to get us in the right situation and go out and do it. I think there is something to be gained in that.”
Related
• What's surprising, likely to change from the Steelers' 1st preseason depth chart
• Tim Benz: Steelers secondary has the ultimate 'act now, answer questions later' approach
• T.J. Watt not pushing back against extra time off he's been given at Steelers training camp
Rodgers thinks he will gain more from the joint practice that is scheduled next week between the Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium. The practice is scheduled for Thursday, two days before the teams play in the preseason.
Because the Steelers and Bucs won’t face each other in the regular season, Rodgers expects both teams to let their guard down during the joint session.
“Even though the cameras are there and it’s filmed, teams are less skittish about stuff they’ve been running all camp that they want to do in the regular season,” he said. “I’ve found it to be beneficial. As long as there aren’t a lot of fights, I think they are a good work day for the first team.”
The 41-year-old quarterback is pleased with how the Steelers offense has progressed in the second week of training camp. Rodgers had perhaps his best day of practice Tuesday when the offense dominated in the “Seven Shots” 2-point simulation.
“We’ve been clicking the last three or four days much better,” Rodgers said. “Our defense, we added a lot of pieces, and always early in camp when the pads go on, the defense seems to have the upper edge. The second week it starts to turn a little bit. It feels like we have been playing better the last week and a half.”
A week earlier, Rodgers said he was having some difficulty grasping the play calls, saying the picture was a little “fuzzy” at times. He feels more comfortable with it this week.
“The plays are rolling off good, and I feel better about the offense, much better than last week,” he said.
Rodgers has received just one scheduled day off from practice, although he considered the rainout last week as a second day of rest. He is trying to balance learning the playbook after missing offseason workouts in the spring with getting adequate rest because of his age. Rodgers is the oldest player in the NFL.
“I feel good,” he said. “I’m not begging for days off, but anytime Mike wants to lighten my load, I won’t complain.”