Rodgers told Valdes-Scantling something else about his new team.
“I was telling Marquez there are no bad apples in here,” Rodgers said. “There’s nobody you worry about, nobody with consistent late issues or team-rule issues. Not that there’s a lot of rules in general. But, nah, there’s a bunch of good guys in here that care about each other and play for each other.”
But are there enough receivers?
“That’s a lot outside talk,” Rodgers said. “You got to look at the way we’re playing and the personnel groupings that we like. We’re a multiple personnel team. We run a lot of guys out there. We had an offensive lineman play a lot of snaps. Obviously, Darnell (Washington) plays a lot of snaps, and Jonnu (Smith) and Pat (Freiermuth), and Connor (Heyward) get in there on some plays, rotating three different backs, a lot of different receivers, so we’re not a big three-receiver team in general. And Calvin’s (Austin) come back and played really well for us. Roman’s (Wilson) been more consistent. So, there was probably more noise outside of the facility than maybe inside the facility.”
Rodgers, of course, spends time with each receiver during practice. He mentioned the strong week of practice enjoyed by Wilson the week before his career game against the Packers. Rodgers this week relayed a story about how working with Freiermuth paid off against the Colts.
“The play I hit Pat on,” Rodgers said of the 12-yard touchdown pass that gave the Steelers a 14-7 lead, “was a play we worked on since training camp, and it didn’t quite look right until about two-and-a-half weeks ago. Me and Pat worked on the side with it, and we talked about, ‘If you just wait a little longer on that and sell it and really get your feet in the ground, I think it’s gonna open up more.’
“Now, that was for match coverage. They played cover four on that one, but, because he waited, the ball was able to be completed between the safety and the corner, and then he made a beautiful, athletic play to get in the end zone.
“When you see stuff like that in practice, it allows you to have the confidence to go to that guy on those plays in the game. And the other part is, and I’ll say it again just because it means so much to me, but when a guy’s not getting the ball and they still show up to work the same way every single day, every single week, there’s a lot to be said for that. And I’ve mentioned Pat. I mentioned Roman. Calvin at times. DK (Metcalf). There’s a lot to be said for that.”