Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed on Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast that he sent a strong message to the offensive line at the early portion of training camp after fourth-string quarterback Skylar Thompson got knocked down.
“And one thing, one really important moment, Skylar got knocked down early in camp. And I walked out there like, ‘What the hell just happened?’ I looked back and nobody was walking out there. And I told the line, ‘Don’t you ever let that happen again,'” Rodgers said.
“I said, ‘We gotta protect each other. And you guys are the policemen out there on the field. You’re the big brothers out there. You protect everybody from DK [Metcalf] to me to whoever’s in there (at) quarterback or whoever’s in there (at) running back. I don’t care if it’s preseason practice, whatever. You gotta protect them.”
Rodgers said the message registered with the offensive line and it did not happen again.
“The next time something happened about a week later, Zach [Frazier] was in there. Pat [Freiermuth] was in there,” Rodgers said. “If Zach’s in there, you know Mason [McCormick’s] in there. And then I saw Troy [Fautanu] going in there. And then Spencer [Anderson]. I was like, ‘That’s what it looks like.’ And I’m not talking about instigating fights. I’m just talking about backing your brothers up.”
During his media availability on Monday, Steelers left tackle Broderick Jones explained what it’s like working with the 41-year-old quarterback and his relationship. Outside of left guard Isaac Seumalo, the rest of the starting offensive line are in their early twenties.
“It’s a love/hate relationship at the same time. Because sometimes he’s playing, but not everybody’s on the same page,” Jones explained. “But it’s also good to have that bond within to have the understanding, ‘OK, he’s a vet. I know everything, let me make sure everybody else is good and then we carry on with whatever is going on, whatever the situation was.’ Just things like that. But I feel like he has a good sense of who he is and who we’re trying to be and getting us where we’re trying to go.”
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Aaron Rodgers Put Steelers Offensive Line on Notice: ‘Don’t You Ever Let That Happen Again’
