Aaron Rodgers has been around long enough to have heard just about every gripe a receiver can make, and he knows how to handle them. On Wednesday, he explained how he negotiates that territory with teammates. Part of it is simply his philosophy of throwing to the open guy—so he tries to help guys make themselves open.
“If somebody wants more targets, I welcome the conversation. But I usually say, ‘Let’s watch the film. Let’s see, let’s talk about football’. I love doing that”, Rodgers said, via the Steelers’ website. “I think what young players learn is that practice is very, very important, and when you show it week in and week out in practice, it gives a quarterback a lot of confidence to come your way with the football”.
Rodgers brought up Roman Wilson, recalling that he sensed he could have a big game the week before last. He felt that way based on how he practiced, and then it materialized in the game. Wilson built the necessary rapport with Rodgers, and the ball found its way to him even as a non-priority target.
Another player who hasn’t necessarily seen the targets he might desire is fifth-year TE Pat Freiermuth. Many thought this might be a career year of sorts working with Rodgers, who praised his attitude. But he also talked about the work that’s gone into building the rapport now developing, including another Sunday touchdown.
“The play I hit Pat on in [last Sunday] was a play we worked on since training camp, and it didn’t quite look right”, Rodgers said. “Until about two and a half weeks ago, me and Pat worked on the side with it and we talked about, ‘If you just wait a little longer on that and sell it and really get your feet into the ground, I think it’s gonna open up more’”.
Of course, Aaron Rodgers has had a whole new-to-him cast with the Steelers this year. And as you’ll surely recall, he didn’t even join the team until mandatory minicamp in June. He only had three days of light practice before training camp, so admittedly, they could have built a stronger rapport throughout the offseason.
But the reality is that so much of that really does take place in training camp and beyond. And for Rodgers, when you’re just throwing to the open man, you only need one per play. He isn’t necessarily worried about anybody’s stats. He just wants touchdowns, and if you provide him the looks to achieve them, you’re liable to see targets.
So if you want to be the guy catching the touchdowns, find out what you need to do. That’s what some of the guys have done with Aaron Rodgers, from the sounds of it, like Pat Freiermuth. It sounds like they’ve been working on some things on the side. It’s probably not a coincidence that he has 14 targets and three touchdowns in the past three games.
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