The Pittsburgh Steelers open their preseason on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers, and it looks as if the team has made a decision on Aaron Rodgers‘ playing status.
Rodgers is expected to sit out the opener at Acrisure Stadium, according to The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, who reported from pregame warmups that the plan pointed clearly in that direction.
“All signs point toward Aaron Rodgers sitting tonight,” DeFabo wrote. “Mike McCarthy said he’ll split the team into three groups. Three QBs are warming up: Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, Drew Allar. Aaron Rodgers is not.”
Aaron Rodgers Set to Sit as Steelers Open Preseason vs. Packers
The decision fits how Rodgers has talked about the NFL preseason all along. Head coach Mike McCarthy said earlier in the week that Rodgers “prefers to play,” but the 41-year-old quarterback downplayed the idea himself.
“It’s preseason, it’s not real football,” Rodgers told reporters this week, per Yahoo Sports. “If I do, great. If not, great.”
Rodgers, who has said this will be the final season of his career, has appeared in just one preseason game since 2019. Sitting out Thursday keeps that pattern intact and protects the veteran for a season that matters far more than August.
Steelers’ Young QBs Take Center Stage in Mike McCarthy’s Debut
The plan gives each backup a defined runway. Rudolph, the veteran who rallied Pittsburgh to the playoffs in 2023, was set to start for a drive or two before handing off to Howard for the rest of the first half and Allar in the second, per CBS News Pittsburgh.
Both young passers were making debuts fans have waited on. Howard, a 2025 sixth-round pick out of Ohio State, lost his entire rookie preseason to a hand injury, making Thursday his first taste of NFL game action.
Howard hopes to hold off Allar, a third-round pick out of Penn State in April. Allar arrived with prototypical size and a big arm, and scouts have praised his traits, though he still has a lot to prove.
Rodgers topped the initial camp depth chart, followed by Rudolph, Howard and Allar in that order. But with Rodgers in his final season, the Steelers are openly searching for a quarterback of the future, and Thursday offers the first extended audition for the two young arms who could factor into it. A strong night from either would go a long way toward answering whether the answer is already on the roster.
The night carries an extra layer for McCarthy. It’s his debut as the Steelers’ head coach, the first game of the post-Mike Tomlin era in Pittsburgh after nearly two decades of stability on the sideline. It also comes against the Packers, the franchise where McCarthy and Rodgers spent 13 seasons together and won a Super Bowl. Fans will get their first live look at the changes McCarthy has brought to the offense, even if the biggest name in the quarterback room stays on the sideline to see them.
Rodgers will watch this one from the sideline.
Steelers Make Aaron Rodgers Decision Before Packers Preseason Opener