Mike Tomlin is moving the needle for Aaron Rodgers, as his latest comments sure seem to suggest that the veteran quarterback wouldn’t be playing at all in the preseason. On one hand, it makes sense for Rodgers not to play; he’s in his 40s with an extensive injury history, so eliminating any unnecessary risk is ideal. The preseason, while offering a good chance to get into game speed, really doesn’t have a whole lot to it, so him missing it isn’t critical.
That said, Rodgers is with a new offense coordinator and a new team with new skill players. There has to be some value in him playing in the preseason, even if it’s for a few possessions, right? Tomlin has never been one to really rest his starters like this. Bending the rules for Rodgers just doesn’t seem right, especially when you think about how important this season is for all involved parties.
Rodgers mentioned he doesn’t want to play in the preseason and really doesn’t see the point. But that can’t be true if it’s a chance to learn your new team in a game setting. Rodgers is going to do whatever he wants, and Tomlin allowing it might just be the start of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ issues this season.
Aaron Rodgers is setting the Pittsburgh Steelers up for problems this season with preseason omission
This is the time Rodgers should be showing his leadership in the locker room and with his new teammates. That’s not to say he’s not already doing that, but seeing how he operates in a game setting could go a long way to getting this team in sync. After all, when he was with the New York Jets, there was a lot of scrutiny about the team lacking chemistry.
The preseason is a great time to work on chemistry. Sure it’s a small sample size and a far cry from the regular season, but every bit of work counts. Rodgers not seeing the value in that could cause problems down the road for the Steelers this season. And this season is far too important to have any missteps.
Tomlin and Rodgers have no excuses this season to lead this team to the playoffs and on a postseason run. With the pressure and expectations of this year, withholding Rodgers from preseason could be something that could come back to haunt them.
Again, it’s not a major issue, but the bigger question is why? Why is Rodgers so anti-preseason that he won’t even suit up for at least one quarter to continue to learn his new team? The antics are never-ending with Rodgers and hopefully his latest one doesn’t carry over into the season.