Two members of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback room, Will Howard and Aaron Rodgers, have dealt with somewhat similar injuries this season. Just before the Steelers’ first preseason game, Howard injured his thumb in practice, resulting in his eventual placement on the IR. Now, Rodgers is dealing with a left wrist injury suffered against Cincinnati last week.
Being around Rodgers, Howard is impressed with the way he’s been able to manage the pain.
“He’s got some pretty unbelievable pain tolerance. Knowing what kind of pain comes with that injury. Like, I’ve broken my hands and stuff before, obviously this year. Broken my arms before. It’s painful. So the fact that he’s out there, going through reps. It says a lot about, you know, his pain tolerance. He’s a tough dude,” Howard said Friday via Steelers.com.
The Steelers are fortunate that Rodgers didn’t hurt his throwing hand, but that doesn’t make things any less painful. On this play, he fell on his left arm late in the first half against Cincinnati.
These are the downsides that come with signing a 41-year-old quarterback. Rodgers has taken some big hits this season, even before this injury. However, he’s not shying away from it. Even after having to leave the game last week, Rodgers wanted to come back in to finish, but the Steelers didn’t allow it. He’s pushing to play this week, according to Mike Tomlin. The Steelers know they have to be cautious with him, but Rodgers isn’t shying away from getting back on the field.
Whether he will or not, we’ll have to wait and see. Rodgers was listed as questionable on Friday, but it looks more likely that he’ll play. Tomlin and Arthur Smith both seem willing to trust his judgement. For what it’s worth, he was moving around decently well at Friday’s practice.
If he does, he’ll face some limitations from the pain. Thankfully for the Steelers it’s not his throwing arm. But even simple things like taking a snap or handing the ball off can certainly cause him some pain if done wrong. Whether Rodgers can put up with that pain enough to execute the offense well is going to be the difference maker.
Ultimately, Aaron Rodgers is aware that he may only have seven games left in the NFL. He’s not going to want to waste one of those weeks on the bench, especially a game in Chicago. He’s working hard enough to get back, that his teammates are taking notice.
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