Why Steelers aren't worried about Aaron Rodgers learning Arthur Smith's offense

One reason some analysts and former players criticized quarterback Aaron Rodgers for waiting until early June to officially join the Pittsburgh Steelers was that such individuals felt Rodgers should've spent the offseason program learning the system run by Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

Rodgers has never before played directly under Smith, but NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated explained on Monday why the Steelers are confident the future Hall of Famer will be ready to go when Pittsburgh opens the upcoming regular season at the New York Jets on Sept. 7. 

"Rodgers has smoothly assimilated into the Steeler culture," Breer wrote. "Different than with the Jets (in 2023 and 2024), he isn’t being asked to take a group of young players to another level. He’s jumping on a moving train, with the team’s veteran leadership very much already in place. He and Arthur Smith got off to a good start, too, getting him up to speed on the offense’s nomenclature. Because the two share some background — Rodgers had ex-Smith staffmates Matt LaFleur and Todd Downing as play-callers — most of the concepts Rodgers was seeing last week were familiar."

Rodgers had LaFleur as a head coach with the Green Bay Packers from 2019 through the 2022 campaign. More recently, Downing served as Rodgers' play-caller with the Jets for a significant portion of last season. Thus, Breer thinks that learning "the language" of Smith's offense will prove to be "light lifting for the quarterback, given the amount of coaching changes and shifts Rodgers has been through over the course of his career."

As for Rodgers not "being asked to take a group of young players to another level" with the Steelers, it's no secret that the Jets wanted him to serve as a mentor for 2021 first-round draft pick Zach Wilson back in the spring of 2023. Their relationship allegedly "soured" before the Jets traded Wilson to the Denver Broncos in April 2024. Additionally, Rodgers and Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson reportedly "never saw eye-to-eye."

"Last week, in addressing his teammates, he did let them know that he’s now all in with the Steelers for 2025," Breer added about Rodgers. That doesn't guarantee that the 41-year-old will turn the clock back to his best days with the Packers or stay healthy from September through January 2026, but it sounds like he thus far has been everything that Smith and Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin hoped he'd be.