Aaron Rodgers, Skylar Thompson Media Availability (Aug. 6) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Aaron Rodgers, Skylar Thompson Media Availability (Aug. 6) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Is it less fuzzy this week? I don’t I wouldn’t say it was ever fuzzy. I I might have said the image was fuzzy, but but uh the plays are rolling off good and I feel good about uh uh the offense much better than last week. Mike said he thought you were in command yesterday in two minutes, but uh you have a similar feeling. Yeah, we just got to get the refs back out there so we can get that goal. Did yesterday feel like things were clicking a little bit more for the offense? Like maybe that was a moment where the page was kind of turning? Well, I mean, I think we’ve been we’ve been clicking uh the last three or four days uh much better. Um our defense, you know, it’s uh obviously we added a lot of pieces to it. Uh always early in camp with the pads going, the defense seems to have the upper edge and then the second week it starts to turn a little bit. So, I feel like we’ve been playing better uh the last week and a half. Roman said that he really appre appreciated like working with you and learning and how to get better with you. What have you seen in him and just how he works and working to get better with you as a pair? I would say Roman just like Cal. Uh, and really all our guys, they really care about it. You know, I noticed that when they came out out west, just to see their their attention to detail and their willingness to learn. Um, so Ro, you know, I just got to get Ro out of his head a little bit, you know, because I think he’s he’s he’s such a good kid. He cares so much about whether it’s my approval or he’s doing it right. and he just got to trust himself because he’s so damn talented. Um, you know, the more he can play free and not not think out there, the better he’s going to play. So, the more he can just trust what he’s got and then just go out and react, the better he’s going to play. Aaron, what what excites you most about playing in this offense? It’s really the relationship with with Arthur. um you know to have a guy that uh we sat yesterday for like uh two and a half hours you know just talking ball and it’s not all like ex’s no it’s you know it’s storytelling from time to time but he’s he’s not a rigid guy at all you know so anything that ideas that I have or ideas that you know some of the receivers are giving to me to give to him you know everything is taken into consideration which I I really appreciate and uh and we’re installing I mean, the last few days we’ve installed stuff that uh I’ve gone back and looked at from the past or other guys have had, you know, similar ideas because we have a little open forum in my room. Anytime you want to come in and suggest something or get on the same page about something, let me know because I’ll I’ll take it right to heart. But, uh, I’m just really enjoying him a lot as a person and just the way he leads in front of the room and it’s been, uh, been a lot of fun so far. Have you offered any advice to Will now that he’s kind of losing an opportunity in the preseason? most likely and working his way back from injury. Uh yeah, I mean it sucks sucks for him for sure, but uh cuz he’s had such a nice camp as a young player and then watching him in mini camp and just seeing his, you know, command of the offense and and uh but this year is is a growth year for him. It’s a year to to watch and learn and obviously better himself. Uh this would just be a minor setback for him, you know. Uh it would have been great to see him get some live reps in the preseason, but uh I’m not sure when he’s going to be back. Hopefully he’s back in time to to take maybe the second or third game, but either way, you know, this is a year for him to grow and learn and get his body the way he wants to get it and get ready to to be the guy for a long time. Aaron, would you want some reps in preseason? Is that something that you think there’s some value for you with with a new team? Yeah, I mean that’s interesting conversation. I think uh Mike and I will have that at some point. Um, I’m not I don’t think it’s in the plan for me to play this week, but uh whatever Mike wants to do, I’m fully on board. He wants me to go out there and play, I’ll play. Uh, if not, then I won’t. Um, I’ve said a lot, you know, with all due respect, then I can say whatever I want. Preseason football is not necessarily real football. Uh, because the defenses just don’t do a whole lot. They don’t, and the offenses don’t either. So you go out there with a very limited playbook against a defenses playing one eye zone, one eye man or two eye zone and there’s not much pressure. There’s often times communication between the coaches about uh hey we’re not going to pressure this week or hey we need to see a little bit of pressure. Um it’s really about the operation. Now that is where you can actually gain something from the preseason is you got 40 seconds, right? There’s a play clock out here but it’s not always adhered to. So, you have 40 seconds to call the play, to get the line of scrimmage, to get us in the right uh situation and to go out and do it. And I think there’s something to be gained for that. Um, but as opposed to kind of when I got in the league, I would say there’s less uh schematic stuff that you’re going to see in the regular season. You feel like you’re at the chemistry building process with the receivers and what goes into that both on and off the field. Yeah, I mean, there’s conversation I think is the most important thing. So, talking through every every issue. Uh Art’s done a nice job uh of allowing me to to take some time in some of the meetings to kind of go through the film with the guys. Um and they all have position coaches, which is important to get coached up by the position coach. But uh you know, as as parents, right, sometimes you tell your kid a bunch of stuff and they only get it when somebody else says it and you’re over there like, “I’ve been saying this forever.” That’s kind of how it is for a position coach sometimes. So they tell them the right thing all the time, but it might not be until they hear from me or hear from heart where it actually kicks in. And that’s just the nature of life and in our business. So it’s good for me to speak up from time to time. And also you pull him aside and block them, pull him aside on the field, and then we got our open form in my room or or one of their rooms uh after practice. Were you trying to go to Wilson on that play or did that coverage dictate that’s where you throw the ball in a minute? Like were you looking to give him a chance? That was a coverage coverage dictated that one. Yeah. You mentioned that preseason football isn’t real football. Are you able to kind of supplement that with the joint practices? Does that is that more of a benefit than preseason football? Yes, I believe so for the first difference. Uh because teams are especially most of the joint practices I would say you’re not going to play that team in the regular season. So they’re less worried about showing things that they want to work on. And even though there usually are cameras there and it’s filmed, uh they’re less skittish about running the stuff they’ve been running all camp that they’re going to try and do in the regular season against uh another team that you’re not going to play in the regular season. So I find I found those beneficial uh as long as there’s not a lot of fights. I think they’re uh they’re a good work day for the first uh for the first team. Two more guys. Two more. You’re getting the right amount of work this camp as far as the reps. I think you’ve only had one day off. You feel You’re getting what you need. I love that one day off. I mean, thank you, Mike, for that one. Uh, but we really got two days off if you look at it because we got rained out that one day and did a did a walk through. So, uh, I feel good. You know, I’m not begging for for off days, but anytime Mike wants to lighten my load, I won’t uh won’t complain. Last one, guys. Good. Aaron, you mentioned that that you open your door for your teammates. Have you seen a lot of guys take advantage of that and feel comfortable coming to you with with questions? Yeah, I have. I have. I I think that’s an important part of it. Just letting those guys know that there’s no dictatorship here. It’s not art’s dictatorship or mine. It’s uh we want to talk about all the issues and all the things you’re seeing. And whether it’s a text message or coming to my room and having a conversation, like those are invaluable times to get on the same page with the guys because when I’m out there, I don’t want anything to be left unsaid. Uh, so I’d rather hit it on the front end and if then something comes happen in practice, hit it on the back end instead of uh trusting uh, you know, it it to get figured out on its own. So, it’s been it’s been a good process for us. Ben is the one that comes in the most. He doesn’t really knock anymore. Um, but uh, that’s Ben’s personality. How do you view the opportunity for more reps? Yeah, you know, um it’s definitely not the the way you want an opportunity to come to get more reps, but um you know, I’ve been preparing this whole time. Um as if I am the guy getting the reps. So, you know, really nothing’s going to change other than me actually physically getting them now. So, um you know, I’m looking forward to the opportunity and uh getting out there and going to play some football. What has this opportunity been like for you? What’s kind of just been your experience throughout this, you know, training campaign? Yeah. No, it’s been a great opportunity. I feel like I’ve grown a ton. Um it’s been challenging. Um you know and uh I feel like in those times challenging times like you you learn a lot about yourself and you grow and um I feel like I felt myself improve um in you know some different ways than than normal necessarily. Um but I’ve really enjoyed just being around the guys and the team um the coaches like our our culture here is is really special. So, it’s been really cool to to be a part of and kind of, you know, experience Latroe, you know, and kind of have a off off-campus camp um and reap the residuals from that has been really cool. So, um I’ve really enjoyed that aspect of it. What’s been challenging for you? Um you know, just uh being in a position where I’m not not getting as many reps as I have in years past. um you know and that’s uh it’s just a different dynamic to it and there’s different ways to continue to stay on top of your stuff and still get those reps you know and um that’s that’s the biggest challenge for me up to this point has been getting mental reps and even though if I’m not a guy out there still getting the rep and learning from whatever I can learn from even though I’m not the the guy necessarily in there uh getting the the actual reps. So, um, that that’s been, uh, you know, that’s been just an adjustment, something different than kind of what I’ve experienced in the past. But, uh, like I said, I feel like I’ve gotten the most out of that and and have been, uh, you know, still improving and and getting better from from those reps, whether if it’s me in there or not. Skyler, you were the first to sign. Do you feel like you’ve got a good grasp? You had enough time with Arthur’s offense to kind of a good feel what’s going on? Yeah, you know, absolutely. Um, definitely. I feel like too coming into the system, there’s some carryover and some terminology that I had in in my offense in in Miami that kind of helped me pick up on the the system. And it’s not necessarily all brand new stuff, you know, and at the end of the day, I mean, football’s football and a lot of these concepts that that we we have here, I’ve I’ve ran in my past, just have different names for them or, you know, different tags, whatever the case may be. So, um, it’s just reprogramming your mind a little bit and kind of, you know, getting the new stuff to stick and, um, you know, I think, like I said, having some similarities from my past offense to this one kind of helped make that transition for me. Have you talked to Have you talked to Will? How is he handling the setback? Yeah, you know, I I reached out to Will yesterday um, just to see how he was doing and, you know, he he’s a he’s a good kid. He’s he’s a strong- minded individual. Um, and I know that he’s going to make the most of this time. It’s unfortunate deal. It’s a freak accident, you know, and um uh it’s unfortunate. Never want that to happen to to anyone, you know, and uh you know, so he’s he’s going to get the most out of this time, though. And um not take any steps back, for sure. Did you see what exactly what happened? No. No, I didn’t. I didn’t. You go from not getting a lot of reps to potentially playing for a half tomorrow. Like, how do you prepare yourself for, you know, that extended amount of playing time and a short amount of Yeah. Um, well, like I said, I feel like mentally I’ve been doing the work already. Um, and you know, I I know this playbook. I know what what my job is to do and how to execute what, you know, what they’re asking me to do on on every play. So, um, it’s just for me just banking on my past, you know, like even though I may have not, you know, haven’t haven’t gotten as many reps this camp, like I have a lot of lot of reps built up in my career in my in my lifetime that, uh, for me is just banking on those and, you know, trusting my muscle memory that my body knows what to do and just trust my trust my reads, trust my decision- making and and letting the ball rip and don’t hesitate, you know, and that’s that’s going to be my mindset going into it. You mentioned the last one that you have the familiarity with some of the same concepts from playing in Miami. How have you seen some of those, you know, Arthur and Mike McDaniel kind of come from a similar tree with a lot of the Shanahan kind of stuff. How have you seen those concepts permeate through the NFL? What are some of the signature components of of this offense? Yeah. Um, you know, I definitely think, you know, Arthur has has um, you know, established some of the those concepts and terms in this system, but also Arthur has has kind of branched off and, you know, he has his own own flavor to it, you know, um, which I think is really cool. And he’s he’s very open to, you know, the the players and and what hits our brain, you know. He’s not super stuck on calling something this or calling something that. it’s kind of what the players want, you know, and I think that’s a really cool um, you know, perspective that he has for this offense and it’s just constantly just grooming it, you know. It’s never like this is just one set in stone. This is, you know, install one, two, three, four, and this is what it is every single time. You know, it’s like as we kind of go, we’ve we’ve added some things. We’ve adjusted some things that have kind of popped up in practice that we feel like, you know, may maybe we can, you know, run this route instead of this, you know, this kind of looks better. Let’s see what it looks like, you know, type thing. He’s just open, very open-minded to the to the players and especially the quarterbacks.

Aaron Rodgers and Skylar Thompson spoke to the media on Wednesday, August 6

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