Rodgers doesn’t see need to play in preseason

LATROBE (93.7 The Fan) – Aaron Rodgers is not fond of today’s NFL preseason football, at least for him, but says they haven’t decided whether he will play or not Thursday night against the Packers.

Those conversations with the Steelers coaches including head coach Mike McCarthy haven’t happened. Rodgers told The Athletic he wanted to play in maybe 40 snaps, but that wasn’t the vibe he was giving talking to reporters in the media room at the Rogers Center at St. Vincent College.

Asked specifically if he wants to play?

“No, it’s preseason, it’s not real football,” Rodgers said. “If I do, great. If not, great.”

His issues aren’t as much being a 22-year veteran and playing in a game that doesn’t count. It’s just the preseason has changed.

“The preseason is a lot different,” Rodgers said. “The teams don't run anything anymore, you know, they just really don't.”

And what he means by that is when he started teams would show a bigger variety of different looks, now it’s mostly just vanilla offenses and defenses and he doesn’t see an advantage to risking injury.

“Even when they have joint practices (between NFL teams-the Steelers did it with Tampa Bay last year), I think the first year we were doing them, it was fun because you got to play a team that wasn't going to play how they planned in the preseason,” Rodgers said. “They were going to show you a lot of different things they were working on, it was like a real day at camp.”

“As that got on it just stopped being like that, just turned into fights and nobody showed anything because somebody's brother, you know, was on the staff and they might show him the film.”

“I think those are a waste of a day and I think pre-season football it’s good to see guys with pads on, under the lights, how they react to the nerves. But it's not real regular season football.”

Asked if there was any advantage for him to play in the preseason?

“I don’t think so.”