Aaron Rodgers has the type of equity where he can come into any franchise, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, and speak his mind, give commands, and let everyone know how he feels, and no one will bat an eye.
Well, the Steelers' offensive line saw that first hand in Latrobe, and Rodgers didn't hold back. . .
“And one thing, one really important moment, Skylar [Thompson] got knocked down early in camp," said Rodgers on Cam Heyward'sNot Just Football podcast. "And I walked out there like, ‘What the hell just happened?’ I looked back, and nobody was walking out there. And I told the line, ‘Don’t you ever let that happen again. . .
“I said, ‘We gotta protect each other. And you guys are the policemen out there on the field. You’re the big brothers out there. You protect everybody from DK [Metcalf] to me to whoever’s in there (at) quarterback or whoever’s in there (at) running back. I don’t care if it’s preseason practice, whatever. You gotta protect them.”
Now, with Rodgers admitting that this happened when Skylar Thompson was at QB, it tells us that it was likely the second and third team offensive line who let this happen, but it's still concerning for multiple reasons.
For one, the quarterback should, and I can't emphasize this enough, NEVER hit the ground in practice. Honestly, that's a worse look for the defense than it is for the offensive line. All pass rush ceases once the defensive linemen penetrate the line of scrimmage unblocked.
But the bigger issue is that the OL either didn't respect Thompson enough to pick him up, or they completely zoned out, showing either a total lack of character or an utter lack of focus.
So good on Rodgers for getting his guys squared away. They have to know the standards.
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