Often, scout team is reserved for backups and practice squaders. A chance to get players at the end of the roster reps while providing the other side of the ball the best “look” for what they’ll see in the game. So, it must’ve been a strange sight to see QB Aaron Rodgers running the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive scout team throughout this week.
T.J. Watt confirmed Rodgers received scout team reps this week, as shared by CBS 58’s reporter Lance Allan.
“Aaron Rodgers was ‘taking some scout team reps this week. Anything he can do to help us win,'” Allan, a Milwaukee reporter, shared from Watt in a Friday tweet.
The news package Allan created doesn’t include that quote but noted Watt is trying to treat the game like any other.
“We have so much football that needs to be corrected from the last couple of weeks, especially from the defensive side, that I’m just excited to get back on the football field and correct what we’ve done wrong the last couple weeks,” Watt said.
Rodgers creates an extra storyline, and perhaps an extra advantage. While most of Rodgers’ teammates during his final 2022 season with Green Bay are no longer Packers, head coach and offensive play caller Matt LaFleur remains. Rodgers knows how the Packers’ offense is constructed and thinks. Running scout team against Pittsburgh’s first-string defense provides the best “look” possible in what the Steelers will see Sunday night. Not just in the big-picture scheme, but in the little details only players like Rodgers know well.
Of course, that can be a two-way street. LaFleur knows Rodgers, too. Unlike the New York Jets matchup, the Packers’ organization has more stability and carryover. The Jets’ new regime had no ties to Rodgers. On the coaching staff, LaFleur and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith shared a sideline in Tennessee for the 2018 season.
Once the ball gets kicked off, all the storylines melt away – at least for the ensuing three hours. If Pittsburgh is going to end the night win a major win, they’ll need every advantage they can get. Rodgers is offering that, though the defense will have to execute its plan far better than Week 7.
