Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers watches the New York Jets game Friday at Acrisure Stadium. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
After throwing two interceptions in one half of a preseason game against the New York Jets, Steelers quarterback Will Howard has gone from Pittsburgh’s darling to yesterday’s news.
Welcome to ’tahn, Will.
During this week’s “Madden Monday”podcast, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 the X didn’t mince words about how he thought Howard performed during Friday’s 17-0 defeat.
“I thought Howard looked pretty bad, and I think it showed it was the first game he started since the National Championship game for Ohio State,” Madden said. “And I was amused that when he threw the two picks, people immediately blamed Roman Wilson for running bad routes — even though the citizens would have no way of really knowing that — watching the network feed. But they know it couldn’t have been their guy’s fault.”
That said, Madden wasn’t excusing Wilson either — especially after Mike McCarthy didn’t rush to Wilson’s defense when asked about his role in the interceptions.
“I don’t think Wilson covered himself in glory in that game. I don’t think anybody did. They didn’t score any points,” Madden added.
But Madden saw the disconnect between Howard and Wilson and applied it to a potentially bigger issue. He’s more worried about the guy who actually is going to be the starting QB, not the third or fourth stringer.
Aaron Rodgers.
“We don’t talk enough about the Rodgers factor too. Roman Wilson can win McCarthy’s trust. He can memorize the playbook. Same with (Germie) Bernard as a rookie,” Madden said. “If Rodgers doesn’t buy into them, it won’t matter. And I just wonder who he’s going to buy into and who he won’t — if we might go off the board to bring in one of his cronies, or if his ice cream buddy Ben Skowronek plays more.”
Based on what former Steelers wide receiver Adam Thielen said about how Rodgers freezes out young wide receivers if they aren’t precise enough, that’s a legitimate concern.
“He shouldn’t be that way, especially now,” Madden said of Rodgers. “Because he certainly has a lot of flaws as well. I think that he needs to — at long last — lighten up. But at 42, why would he bother?”
Also during thepodcast, Madden and I talk about Steelers issues along the offensive line and in the secondary. We debate the depth at inside linebacker. We get into some Pirates woes after being swept in Los Angeles. And we discuss the Penguins Hall of Fame class of 2026.
This week's Madden Monday with Mark Madden and Tim Benz features fallout from the Steelers' preseason loss to the New York Jets, the Penguins Hall of Fame class and woes for the Pirates out west