The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to pick up a much needed win against the Cincinnati Bengals at home this Sunday, improving their record to 6-4 on the season while avenging their loss from Week 7. Unfortunately, the box score suggests that things actually went more smoothly than they did.
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The team’s veteran quarterback and future NFL Hall of Famer, Aaron Rodgers, was forced to miss the entire second half of the contest after sustaining an injury to his left wrist. “We had a talk in the locker room,” backup quarterback, Mason Rudolph, informed the media during his post-game press conference.
“He told me. He gave me the finger and said ‘Hey, you’re going.’ Not the bad finger, but the index, and said ‘You’re going in.’ We appreciate Arthur Smith and Tom for working with me to get to the stuff that I kind of liked in the game plan and tailor it to kind of my favorites so, that’s how it went.”
It’s a feel-good moment for Rudolph, who, prior to Week 11, had only seen two pass attempts since Week 18 of the 2024 regular season. Nevertheless, Rodgers’ injury has put a bit of a cloud over the head of the Steelers.
According to the man himself, however, there’s no need for anyone to “freak out” at this point in time. “If the process is right,” Rodgers prefaced, “you don’t have to make any major changes… It’s the nature of the league. There’s going to be a stinker every now and then, you’ve just got to bounce back and get back to the things you do to get back into your routine and try to be better the next week.
Throughout the coming days, the most important news coming out of Pittsburgh will be the results of the various tests, scans, and screenings that Rodgers will presumably undergo. His demeanor and cadence at the post-game press conference suggests that he isn’t particularly worried about his left wrist, but nothing will be certain until the right people have taken a look at it.
The Steelers have seven days to do their evaluations and figure out a game plan for their contest with the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Prior to Week 11, the Bears were allowing the 11th most passing yards of any unit in the league, and the 20 passing touchdowns that they had given up was the fifth highest total in all of football.
Should Rodgers be good to go by Week 12, then there won’t be many other concerns for the Steelers, and even if he’s unable to suit up, then at least Rudolph will have a somewhat friendly match up that he can still take advantage of.
Simply put, Rodgers is right. There’s no need for anyone in Pittsburgh to be freaking out, not yet anyways.
