Mike Tomlin recently confirmed that Aaron Rodgers won’t be getting any work in for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the preseason finale. That isn’t too surprising, especially considering Rodgers’ feelings on the preseason. He doesn’t see much value in it. However, he has a higher opinion of joint practices. The Steelers had a joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, and Rodgers recently shared his takeaways.
“That was good for us to get some work in,” Rodgers said Tuesday via the team’s website. “I felt like there’s a lot of film to correct. Failure is always best this time of year to learn from and to be able to let the coaches go through or let Arthur [Smith] go through. I thought we started practice really well in the seven shots, then they kind of got after us in the team run.
“But very correctable that we kind of messed up on angle-wise. I felt like we got after them pretty good in the third down periods. We had a chance in two-minute with a couple opportunities. Good film to work on. They had their guys. The thing I loved is that there weren’t fans there, so they felt comfortable bringing a lot of different pressures. I thought it was good work for us in the protection game, especially.”
Reports from that practice indicate that the Steelers didn’t have a great day. As Rodgers shares, after seven shots, the Steelers’ offense took their lumps, especially in the two-minute drill. Luckily, Rodgers doesn’t sound too concerned about those struggles.
However, it’s good that the Steelers didn’t have a perfect day. One of the reasons Rodgers doesn’t value the preseason is that teams don’t show their actual game plans. They don’t want to put anything important on film. However, the Steelers lock down their joint practices. It’s difficult for any information about the work to get out.
Therefore, the Buccaneers were able to run some concepts that they’ll use during the regular season. This might be a solid substitute for preseason work, helping Rodgers shake the rust off better.
Rodgers makes sure to highlight the work that the Steelers’ offensive line got to get in. Considering that group’s youth, that’s important. While Isaac Seumalo is a veteran with 10 years under his belt, the rest of their starters are less experienced. Three of their starters are going into their second year, and Broderick Jones is going into his third year.
That group doesn’t have a lot of actual time together on the field, so the joint practice against the Bucs was especially important for them. They weren’t the only Steelers who needed that work, though. Their team added a lot of new pieces this offseason, including Rodgers.
As a result, the Steelers getting some actual work in against a different team is even more critical. Unfortunately, there’s less access to that practice compared to training camp, but it helps the team improve, which is what matters most. With many Steelers veterans not suiting up for the preseason, we’ll see if that joint practice was enough to prepare them for Week 1.
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