In a slightly surprising move, the Pittsburgh Steelers opted not to play Aaron Rodgers in the preseason. While Rodgers has 20 years of experience in the league, the Steelers haven’t been shy about playing veteran quarterbacks in the preseason before. Ben Roethlisberger did it in his later years. Even last year, the Steelers got Russell Wilson some preseason work, and he had been battling an injury. However, Rich Eisen isn’t bashing the Steelers for that decision.
“[Aaron] Rodgers, I would say no,” Eisen said on his Overreaction Monday podcast. “That’s not a big mistake. I see it. At least they didn’t have him shoving a sled like last year’s veteran that they had.”
Eisen is referring to how Wilson got injured in training camp last year. Despite being in the driver’s seat for their starting job, the Steelers had Wilson push a sled as part of a conditioning test at the start of camp. Wilson proceeded to strain his calf, an injury that flared up again and forced him to miss the first six games of the season.
Luckily for the Steelers, they had Justin Fields to take over for Wilson. That meant that they weren’t in too much trouble. However, this year, the Steelers would be in a tougher position if Rodgers were to get injured.
Mason Rudolph has won games for the Steelers before, but he’s not an every-day starter. The Steelers want to be Super Bowl contenders. That won’t happen if Rudolph has to start for an extended period of time.
That’s why holding Rodgers out of the preseason isn’t such a big deal. He’s 41 years old. Would he benefit from shaking a little rust off by playing in an actual game before the regular season starts? Probably, but for the Steelers, that didn’t outweigh the risk of Rodgers potentially getting hurt in a meaningless game.
Rodgers might not get off to a red-hot start in Week 1. However, he could also play just fine. There’s no telling if the Steelers made a mistake yet or not.
For what it’s worth, Rodgers doesn’t see much value in the preseason. He doesn’t think it properly simulates a regular season game. Rodgers has a lot of experience under his belt. He’s been working hard to get the Steelers’ offense firing on all cylinders. We’ll see if what he’s done is enough to get the Steelers a win in Week 1.