Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers may be silencing concerns related to a recent report that questioned his working relationships with his wide receivers.
It was previously learned that Rodgers’ “connection” with 2024 third-round draft pick Roman Wilson “took a step in the right direction” during Tuesday’s practice. According to Brooke Pryor of ESPN, Rodgers then “showed off a strong rapport with” Wilson and his other targets on Wednesday.
“I just got to get [Wilson] out of his head a little bit, because I think he’s such a good kid,” Rodgers explained. “He cares so much about — whether it’s my approval or he’s doing it right and he’s just got to trust himself. He’s so damn talented. The more he can play free and not think out there, the better he is going to play. The more he can just trust what he’s got and then just go out and react, the better he is going to play.”
Injuries limited Wilson to just five
offensive snaps during his rookie season, but he could potentially emerge as Pittsburgh’s WR2 this summer after the club traded George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys this past spring.
Meanwhile, some outsiders previously feared that Rodgers remaining an unsigned free agent until June would hurt his ability to build on-the-field chemistry with his new teammates. On Wednesday, he suggested he’s not losing sleep over some missed passes during training-camp sessions.
“I think we’ve been clicking the last three or four days much better,” Rodgers said. “Our defense, obviously, we added a lot of pieces to it. Always early in camp with the pads going, the defense seems to have the upper edge, and then the second week it starts to turn a little bit. So I felt like we’ve been playing better the last week and a half.”
There remain questions regarding whether or not Rodgers is a good fit for a unit led by offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Smith poured cold water over such concerns in late July, and Rodgers addressed the matter on Wednesday.
“We sat [Tuesday] for two and a half hours, just talking ball,” Rodgers said about his growing relationship with Smith, per Joe Clark of Steelers Depot. “It’s not all Xs and Os. It’s storytelling time to time. But he’s not a rigid guy at all, so any ideas that I have or ideas that some of the receivers have given me to give to him, everything is taken into consideration. I’ve just really enjoyed him as a person a lot and the way he leads in front of the room. It’s been a lot of fun so far.”
As of Thursday morning, it was unclear if Rodgers would play when the Steelers open the preseason with a matchup at the Jacksonville Jaguars this coming Saturday night.
