Aaron Rodgers can be a big personality, but he doesn’t appear to be too big for the Steelers’ locker room. Those are the initial impressions of those who are around the team since his signing, including beat writer Mark Kaboly. He recently discussed Rodgers’ three-day cameo inside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex during minicamp on his Kaboly + Mack podcast.
“Aaron Rodgers comes over, they’re playing huge games of cards right there and he pulls up a chair next to Cam Heyward, Miles Killebrew,” Kaboly said, noting he had been observing the quarterback while in the locker room. “I don’t know if he played or not, but he’s jumping in there. He’s trying not to offend Will Howard by saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you try this?’”
“Everything seems to be working. With Aaron [Rodgers], I try to pay attention to how he talks to different guys,” Kaboly added. “I see no sense of entitlement. I see no sense of, ‘Hey, I’m Aaron Rodgers.’ He just came in trying to be one of the dudes.”
Kaboly did add at multiple points that things can change, though that goes without saying. All we can go on right now are initial impressions, since all of our impressions are initial. But to his credit, Aaron Rodgers seems to have ingratiated himself into the Steelers organization well so far. He has conducted himself professionally since signing and has behaved as a good teammate, helping out without imposing himself.
Of course, the Steelers didn’t bring Rodgers in to be anybody’s buddy or mentor. He’s here to win games. We have seen a bit different accounts of just how incredible he has looked relative to other quarterbacks. Some claim he has more zip on his passes, while Kaboly argues the real difference is a quicker release. He has also maintained that there is limited data to glean from throwing in a minicamp setting.
Last season for the New York Jets, Rodgers threw for 3,897 yards with 26 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. But he also finished with a 5-12 record, and he posted his lowest successful pass rate since 2015. But the Steelers also believe they are better than the Jets, and Rodgers wasn’t New York’s biggest problem by far.
Like with Russell Wilson last year, the Steelers don’t believe they need Aaron Rodgers to be a superstar. They just need him to provide consistently solid quarterback play and hold down his end. On paper, at least, they believe they have the offensive line, the run game and the skill players. They believe they have the defense, which still features playmakers, even if most are aging.
The last thing the Steelers want is for a locker room personality to be a source of contention. But on the whole, Aaron Rodgers has never had that reputation as a football player. Not extensively, anyway. By and large, he is documented as a good teammate, and not without tangible evidence. After all, his wide receivers have a tendency to follow him around from team to team.
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