As recently as Wednesday, former NFL player/executive and current ESPN analyst Louis Riddick mentioned that quarterback Aaron Rodgers remaining unsigned through the final days of the Pittsburgh Steelers' voluntary springtime workouts was preventing Rodgers from developing chemistry with Steelers players and coaches.
Pittsburgh's Broderick Jones is moving from right tackle to left tackle this offseason and, thus, should want to spend as much time as possible working with Rodgers if the future Hall of Famer is going to be the Steelers' new starting quarterback in September. Jones doesn't seem to be worried about possibly having roughly a month and a half to get comfortable with Rodgers in the event that the 41-year-old only begins attending Steelers practices when training camp sessions begin in late July.
"It's OK because football is a game of many moving pieces, so you've just got to stay locked in," Jones recently said, as shared by Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "Being out here around this time is good being with all the different quarterbacks because you get used to their cadences, their tendencies. ...I've never played with [Rodgers]. I don't know what type of person he is. So if push comes to shove, I just got to build that relationship with him or whatnot, but if not, we're still going to have to do what we do with whoever's behind."
As of Thursday morning, there was no indication that Rodgers planned to put pen to paper on a contract in time to participate in Pittsburgh's three-day mandatory minicamp that's scheduled to run from June 10-12. According to Matthew Marczi of Steelers Depot, Pittsburgh safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said this week that he feels it's difficult to "simulate" football away from the practice field.
"We're getting better, and it's hard to do that on your own," Fitzpatrick added.
Some may assume Fitzpatrick was referencing Rodgers' whereabouts. Nevertheless, Jones seems willing to welcome the four-time MVP with open arms if he decides he wants to play for the Steelers in 2025.
"... It is all on him, what type of demeanor he has when he comes in, and what type of fire he has up under him, what he has to prove. So I think that's all it is," Jones continued. "If he's really got something that he wants to prove to everybody, I feel like he'll come in and he'll already have that in order, ready to work and get to know everybody. We just got to wait to see."
Unless people within the Steelers change their minds about giving Rodgers space until further notice, that wait could continue through at least all of June.
