The Pittsburgh Steelers finished off their preseason schedule on Thursday and Aaron Rodgers once again did not play.
Rodgers, who said he was open to playing snaps in exhibition play if head coach Mike Tomlin wanted him to, ended up not seeing the field over three contests.
"I'll roll with whatever Mike decides," Rodgers said before Tomlin made the announcement that he wasn't playing in preseason Week 3, reiterating the comments he made earlier this month.
“I’m comfortable with what I’m seeing out here,” Tomlin said of the decision to not play Rodgers. “Obviously, if I weren’t, I would be playing him.”
With the entire NFL preseason now officially in the books following the Saturday night games, Rodgers is officially one of nine starting quarterbacks around the league who did not play any preseason snaps.
However, he stands alone in that group, as Rodgers is the only one who is playing for a new team in 2025. Here's the full list of starting signal-callers who sat out the entire preseason:
- Aaron Rodgers
- Jalen Hurts
- Lamar Jackson
- Josh Allen
- Jared Goff
- Dak Prescott
- Baker Mayfield
- Michael Penix
- Matthew Stafford
Of course, the concern with Rodgers not playing is that he's going to get off to a slow start, which is especially possible given the fact that he's in a brand-new offense with pass-catchers he has zero live-game experience with.
If he struggles out of the gate, Tomlin will get flack for not giving Rodgers any exhibition reps. It will also spark the "rest vs. rust" debate.
On the flip side, it's not a bad idea to protect a 41-year-old quarterback. Adding to that, if anyone can overcome a lack of preseason reps, it's a guy with 20 years of NFL experience.
It won't be long before we know just how much Rodgers was impacted by a lack of preseason reps. The Steelers will open their 2025 slate on Sunday, Sept. 7, against the New York Jets.
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