Though Mike Tomlin remains coy about who will be the Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback this weekend, one beat writer can offer a near-guarantee it will be Aaron Rodgers. Mark Kaboly thinks there is an almost 100 percent chance Rodgers gets the nod Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
“He’s playing, no doubt,” Kaboly told 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller Friday afternoon. “I would probably make it a 95 percent right now.”
Rodgers was limited in practice Thursday and Friday and officially ended the week questionable with a fracture in his left wrist. Tomlin said more time is needed to determine Rodgers’ final status. But Kaboly thinks the limited reps was just to justify using the “questionable” tag to keep the Bears guessing.
“They held him out Wednesday and yesterday was basically nothing,” he said. “It was probably because so they could put that questionable status on him. There’s no doubt that’s one of the reasons why they did that.”
NFL rules state any player who does not receive 100 percent of his normal practice reps must be listed as limited. The Baltimore Ravens found out the hard way that applies even if a quarterback takes full reps on the scout team. As was the case with QB Lamar Jackson, the team should’ve listed him as limited instead of full and were fined heavily for the error.
There’s no indication Rodgers ran scout team this week. But any loss of reps during team period, even just a couple if trainers were putting on or adjusting his brace (which Kaboly referred to more as an ACE Bandage) would warrant the questionable listing. While that might be “gaming” the system, there’s no reason to believe the NFL would come after the team. Rodgers is legitimately injured. The only time that would apply is to a perfectly healthy player, relatively as that term is this late into the season, intentionally limited.
With Rodgers’ health known and two days of practice, Pittsburgh likely knows who is going to start this weekend. As was the case in 2024, Mike Tomlin has no issue with letting the opposition find out as late as possible.
Whether or not that plan works remains to be seen. Should Rodgers start, he has great history against the Bears. But he’s also struggled against defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and his play has regressed the last three weeks. Couple that with an injury and a splash play Chicago defense getting healthy in the secondary and Rodgers will need to feel and be at his best to win one final time at Soldier Field.
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