The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t just hoping Aaron Rodgers will be an improved version of himself from last year’s 5-12 season, they’re counting on it. Much has been made about having an extra year of recovery from his Achilles injury, but he also suffered other minor injuries along the way that slowed him down. According to ESPN’s Louis Riddick, he is already looking way better physically than he ever did with the Jets in 2024.
“I will say this, what I did see on those video clips of him already at minicamp, he’s moving a lot better now than he was at any point last year,” Riddick said Wednesday via ESPN’s Get Up. “He looks a lot more light on his feet now. A lot more mobile now than he did last year.”
Not only did we see that decline with Rodgers last year, but it was also evident with Kirk Cousins. Two quarterbacks who were among the top 10 in the league suddenly couldn’t win a game and their physical limitations had a lot to do with it.
Rodgers told the media in his introductory press conference yesterday that he is feeling better physically.
“I feel better. I feel good. It was a tough couple years getting hurt and then rehabbing for a year to get back, but I feel good,” Rodgers said.
Along with his Achilles recovery, he also contended with several other minor injuries in 2024. He told the media that he had swelling in his knee after one game. He was listed with an ankle injury in Weeks 6 and 7 and a knee/hamstring issue in Weeks 8 and 9.
FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer reported in early December that Rodgers had been dealing with a Grade 2 hamstring injury, an MCL sprain and a high-ankle sprain.
Rodgers later pushed back on that reporting and said he never had an MRI on the hamstring to be sure of the severity. Regardless, he was listed with injuries on the official reports each week.
There is no guarantee that he will stay healthy in Pittsburgh, but those minor injuries didn’t help what is naturally a slow recovery from an Achilles injury and made his progress look much worse than it may have been. He was playing his best football toward the end of the season when he wasn’t dealing with as many ailments.
The Steelers should be able to protect him better than the Jets were able to. Their offensive line has a chance to be better than the Jets’ line that protected him last year, but it goes beyond the talent of the line. The offensive system should run the ball much more and expose him to less potential hits and sacks. The Steelers ran the ball 49.3 percent of the time last year compared to the Jets’ 35.9 percent.
That Rodgers is entering the season in a better place is a really good sign for Pittsburgh.
