Steelers Now
UNITY TWP, Pa. — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed that he and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith spent 2½ hours talking football on Tuesday night. Rodgers and Smith have formed a tight bond in the short time that they’ve worked with each other.
Rodgers, who signed in early June, is also building a close relationship with his teammates at St. Vincent College. He even has an open door policy.
“It’s not all X’s and O’s,” Rodgers said. “It’s storytelling from time to time, but [Smith’s] not a rigid guy at all. Any ideas I have or the receivers have, he really appreciates it. We’ve installed stuff I’ve looked at or other guys have had similar ideas. I have an open forum in my room. Anytime you want to come in and suggest something, let me know and I’ll take it right to Art. I’ve just really enjoyed him as a person a lot and the way he leads in front of a room. It’s been a lot of fun so far.”
Rodgers wants a constant flow of communication. He wants nothing unsaid.
“I think that’s an important part of it,” Rodgers said. “There’s no dictatorship here. We want to talk about all the issues, whether it’s in a text message or coming into my room. I don’t want anything to be left unsaid. It’s been a good process for us.”
Rodgers likes that Smith gives him the liberty to coach up the receivers one-on-one.
“Art has been good enough to take some time in the meetings to let me go through the film with the guys,” Rodgers said. “As parents, sometimes you tell your kid a bunch of stuff and they only get it when someone else says it. I say this all the time. The positions coaches tell them the right things, but it might not be until they hear it from me that it kicks in. It’s good for me to speak up from time to time.”
At Sunday’s practice, Rodgers got on second-year wide receiver Roman Wilson after he ran a route incorrectly. Wilson bounced-back with his best practice of training camp on Tuesday.
“I need to get Roman out of his own head a bit. He cares so much about whether it’s my approval or he’s doing it right. He’s just got to trust himself because he’s so damn talented,” Rodgers said.
The defense has dominated the offense for most of training camp, but the offense has made progress in recent days.
“The plays are rolling off good, and I feel good about the offense — much better than last week,” Rodgers said.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from St. Vincent College.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Aaron Rodgers Building Rapport with Steelers OC Arthur Smith: ‘I’ve Just Really Enjoyed Him as a Person’
