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The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin-Aaron Rodgers relationship is going very well so far.
Shortly after Rodgers effusively praised Tomlin for his consistency in their private conversations before the 40-year-old quarterback signed with Pittsburgh, the longtime Steelers head coach repaid the favor when talking to ESPN’s Kevin Clark.
“He has an absolute love affair with the game of football. It’s just no component in the game or the process that I’ve seen in the time that I’ve been around him that he does not enjoy. And that’s just really a cool thing considering he’s been doing it a while,” Tomlin said of Rodgers.
In terms of the future Hall of Famer’s game, Tomlin pointed toward the “ad lib component” as a key factor in why it has been so hard to stop Rodgers throughout his 20-year NFL career.
“A lot of times there’s negativity that comes with the ad lib, but the great ones they manage that well, and he certainly fits into that category. His ability to extend plays and ad lib without offensive negativity has been really impressive over the course of his career,” Tomlin said.
Now, the Steelers, they hope, will benefit from that ad-libbing. Rodgers has been criticized at times for being particular or, more negatively, stuck in his ways, in how he leads an offense. Fortunately, more times than not, it has worked out for him and his team.
Unfortunately, that was simply not the case with the New York Jets, with whom Rodgers played the last two seasons. In Year 1, Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in the first game of the year, and the following season, while he was able to stay relatively healthy, he struggled and so did the Jets, who fired head coach Robert Saleh, general manager Joe Douglas, and stripped playcalling duties of Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive coordinator and a close Rodgers ally, en route to a 5-12 record.
Following the season, during a complete overhaul of the franchise’s front office and coaching staff, it was made clear New York did not intend to bring back Rodgers, who eventually found his way to Pittsburgh, where he will become the sixth Steelers starting quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired three years ago.
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