Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ruled out Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Isaac Seumalo, Jaylen Warren, Darius Slay, Joey Porter Jr., Jalen Ramsey, DeShon Elliott, Patrick Queen, Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, Nick Herbig, and Chris Boswell for Saturday’s preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
With rookie Will Howard sidelined, Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson will get the majority of the reps at quarterback for the Steelers. Logan Woodside, who signed with the Steelers on Thursday, could also se action.
“He’s no stranger to the NFL,” Tomlin said. “He’s had a past relationship with Arthur Smith. Given the circumstances with Will Howard, we thought that that was appropriate. He’ll be a quick study. We’ll work hard over the next 48 hours, and he’ll certainly have game availability. Whether or not he plays remains to be seen, but that was the intention.”
Tomlin believes it’s possible Howard could return in time to play in one of the team’s two preseason games that remain after Saturday.
“I would characterize it as week-to-week at this juncture. I’ll be optimistic and we’ll see what next week holds,” Tomlin said during a Thursday press conference.
Tomlin was then asked if it’s possible Howard could play this preseason.
“Certainly,” Tomlin said.
Rodgers did not play in the preseason with the New York Jets last year. He played in 10 snaps with the Jets in 2023. Before that, his last preseason action was six snaps with the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
To say the least,Rodgers doesn’t personally see a lot of value in preseason football.
“With all due respect (then I can say whatever I want), preseason football is not necessarily real football, because the defenses just don’t do a lot,” he said. “The offenses don’t ether. So you go out there with a very limited playbook against a defense that’s playing one-high zone, one-high man, two-high zone. There’s not much pressure. Oftentimes, there’s communication between the coaches about “hey, we’re not going to pressure this week,” or maybe you’ll see a little pressure.”
The one area that Rodgers did say can be beneficial from a preseason standpoint is just operating the offense with a play clock, stadium radios, crowd noise, a full officiating crew and the like.
“It’s really about the operation,” he said. “If you can actually gain something from the preseason, it’s that you have 40 seconds. We have a clock out here, but it’s not always cued to it. You have 40 seconds. You call the play, get to the line of scrimmage, get us in the right situation, go out and do it.”
Rodgers also feels that joint practices, like the one the Steelers have scheduled for next Thursday with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are a better tool for getting ready for the season.
“[Teams are] less worried about showing things,” Rodgers said. “And even though there are usually cameras there, it’s filmed, they’re less skittish about running stuff they’ve been running all camp, and they’re trying to...
