One of the biggest questions surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers signing QB Aaron Rodgers is just how well he and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will work together. Analyst Mina Kimes questioned the fit, highlighting the disparity between how many snaps Steelers quarterbacks were under center versus Rodgers’ snaps in shotgun. Will Smith stick to his ways, or will he adapt for Rodgers?
Then there was the story about how, allegedly, Arthur Smith did not allow QB Russell Wilson to change plays at the line of scrimmage. Wilson is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. So is Aaron Rodgers. Will Arthur Smith try to have a vise-like grip on Rodgers in 2025, or will Rodgers go his own way?
Well, Aaron Rodgers discussed that at his first press conference with the Steelers, per video from the team’s YouTube channel. And it sounds like he envisions a good relationship. Not one in which he will “take over when you see fit,” as a reporter put it.
“I don’t understand that last term, ‘takeover when I see fit,” said Rodgers. “I mean, I’ve called some two minutes over the years, but the idea that somehow I need to or have spent most of my career playing outside of an offensive system is just not correct. So, I’m gonna learn the offense, and Arthur and I are gonna talk a bunch this summer. And if there’s things that I like that I’d like to see in the offense, Arthur, I’m sure is gonna put it in. But he knows how to call a game. I know how to get us in the right spot based on what’s called. There’s two or three plays called in the huddle sometimes, my job’s to get us in the right play.”
That doesn’t sound at all like a quarterback who is going to go rogue and do his own thing every time he sets foot on the field. It sounds much more like a quarterback who is happy to be playing football in Pittsburgh. Rodgers sounds like someone who wants to play football for the sake of football, not to elevate himself. Someone who works with others, not doing what he wants.
As for Arthur Smith, you’d hope that an offensive coordinator, regardless of experience, would be willing to adapt. That’s what Aaron Rodgers expects. And according to Albert Breer, that’s exactly what Smith has done this offseason, designing his offense around Rodgers. That should encourage Steelers fans.
Breer also said that it didn’t take long at all for Rodgers and Smith to start poring through the new offense. That’s why it was important for Rodgers to get to Pittsburgh now. Sure, earlier would have been preferable. But Rodgers’ signing prior to mandatory minicamp gives both him and Arthur Smith time to work on getting the playbook right.
Now we will just have to wait and see how this all plays out on the field this season. But for right now, it seems like Aaron Rodgers and Arthur Smith are on the same page. And this isn’t the first time that Rodgers has spent looking at Smith’s offense, either. Rodgers studied Smith’s offense at the Tennessee Titans with QB Ryan Tannehill to help him prepare for working under Matt LaFleur.
That should give the duo a firm foundation on which to build for the upcoming season.
