Why Mike McCarthy Still Sees a Championship-Caliber QB In Old Friend Aaron Rodgers

LATROBE, Pa. — Aaron Rodgers learned last season that he can’t outrun the clock. He’s slower in his 40s than he used to be. His arm strength isn’t there as consistently as it once was, either.

It’s his mind, though, that really keeps him going at age 42, in his 22nd — and, as he vowed, his last — NFL season. It’s why his new (and old) coach, Mike McCarthy, is convinced they can make one more run at Super Bowl glory together. And it’s the quirky Rodgers’ best chance to out-maneuver the passage of time.

"His mind’s incredibly sharp," McCarthy, the Steelers coach, told me before practice on Sunday at St. Vincent College. "But I’ll be honest with you, his ball play in this camp has been top-notch. Obviously, I’ve coached a lot of football with him, but his ability to place the football … I’m not saying he lost any velocity on the ball, but if he has, it’s definitely made up for with his anticipation. 

"So he’s getting the ball where it needs to be, on time. He’s having a hell of a camp."

McCarthy would know. This may be his first season coaching his hometown Steelers, but he spent 13 wildly successful seasons as Rodgers’ head coach in Green Bay. They went to the playoffs eight times, won a Super Bowl together, and he helped Rodgers develop into one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game.

The late-career reunion between the 62-year-old coach and his former protégé has been "super cool," McCarthy told me. But it’s a lot more than just a trip down memory lane.

He still sees Rodgers as a quarterback who can help him win.

"It’s super cool, just to be able to be part of his final chapter. It’s awesome," McCarthy told me. "But I think he definitely fits the culture here. So yes, I think it’s a great story. 

"But I think we just want to win. Let’s go win and do the things that we need to do to win. And he’s such a competitor. I love the time, once we cross the white lines, when we get to just go out there and compete. And he is one of the greatest to ever play the game."

Notice, he didn’t say "was" — a purposeful choice of words. Rodgers, by his own standards, was just OK last season, completing 65.7% of his passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His age was showing, even as he dragged the Steelers to 10 wins and the AFC North title. He looked like a good quarterback overall, but not one capable of doing any of the magical things he used to do.

But his mind, his processing skills and ability to see what others can’t in a defense, give him and the Steelers an enormous advantage. And that’s where the magic really happens, McCarthy said.

"His mind is off the charts," McCarthy told me. "His anticipation and ability to throw people open, his instincts … and he also matches it with his release, the way he’s able to get the ball out of his hands so quickly and throw through the open window where (defenders) are running through. That’s the way you have to play and win in this league, because people are always covered. It’s the job of the quarterback to throw them open."

Even in practice, it’s clear that Rodgers still does that better than anyone. He has the patience to let a play develop, the wisdom to see what is about to happen, and the skills to put the ball in the only place it can go. And after almost every rep on Sunday, he was talking to his coaches, receivers and linemen, explaining to them exactly what he saw.

Whether it all translates into wins, a playoff berth, or even one last run at a Super Bowl, probably depends on Rodgers’ 42-year-old body, and whether he can keep it from breaking down. But don’t bet against that, even at his age, since he’s played near-full seasons in seven of the past eight years.

And if he can do it one more time, then maybe — just maybe — his mind is what will matter most, and he and McCarthy have enough left for one more magical run.

• McCarthy may be known as an offensive-minded coach, but if you’re waiting for him to unveil the scheme that was so successful in Green Bay and Dallas, don’t. The offense being run by him and offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio in Pittsburgh may be more like what last year’s Steelers ran. "It’s not like just (Rodgers) and I got back together and dusted off the old playbook," McCarthy told me. "There’s a lot of language that’s changed. And we kept some of the things that were here last year just to try and keep the guys in sync." Obviously, McCarthy will put his stamp on it and incorporate some of his old plays. But in taking over a 10-win team with a 42-year-old quarterback, continuity was more important to him.
• When you’ve got an aging quarterback, you’ve got to find ways to support him, and a strong running game could really help. The Steelers didn’t have one last year (103.3 yards per game, 26th in the league). But McCarthy thinks the signing of RB Rico Dowdle could change that. Remember, McCarthy helped turn him into a 1,000-yard back in Dallas two years ago (1,079 yards, 2 TDs), and he continued to prove he’s capable in Carolina last season (1,076-6). Dowdle should end up as the workhorse in the Steelers’ backfield. And if he plays well, he and Jaylen Warren (958 yards last season) could be a potent tandem.
• Once the Steelers invested these two years in Rodgers, it seemed obvious they needed to start searching for their quarterback of the future. And maybe now they’ve found him in former Penn State QB Drew Allar, their third-round pick. He was a dazzling 10 of 13 for 153 yards and three touchdowns in his preseason debut against the Packers this past Thursday. And while preseason performances can be deceiving, McCarthy thinks it showed how good Allar really is. He told me, "I don’t know what you’re looking at if you don’t see a first-round talent in Drew."

The Steelers' defense was middling last season (17th in scoring), but they did have a surprisingly potent pass rush. It was "surprising" because they got 48 sacks (sixth in the NFL) despite a down year from T.J. Watt, their longtime star. He had only seven sacks — just his third season not reaching double-digits (and his worst total in a full season).

It’s safe to say Pittsburgh expected more when it signed him to a three-year, $123 million extension last July. So he really needs to show that his two-year statistical decline isn’t irreversible even though he’ll be 32 in October. Last season, his sack total was still the third-highest on the team. Imagine how potent the pass rush could be if Watt — who had 19 sacks in 2023 and 11.5 in 2024 — gets anywhere near his old form.

The Steelers need that from the eight-time Pro Bowler. They know their quarterback will need as much support as he can get. Backing him with an aggressive, disruptive defense, preferably led by Watt, might be the best thing they could do to help Rodgers out.

"I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I could win a Super Bowl. Once you lift that trophy up, there’s nothing else in this business."

— Steelers coach Mike McCarthy told me 

Everything Is Riding On Aaron Rodgers’ 42-Year-Old Arm

There’s a lot to like about this team that McCarthy inherited from Mike Tomlin. It’s the core of a team that won 10 games last season, after all. And they should get a boost from McCarthy. Nothing against Tomlin. He had a phenomenal record in Pittsburgh over the past 19 years. But it’s possible that what he was preaching probably got a little stale.

To get that new-coach boost, McCarthy will need T.J. Watt to bounce back, so the defense can be a little bit more like it's used to being in the Steel City. And the addition of Dowdle, who McCarthy developed into an RB1 in Dallas, could give Pittsburgh the running game it was missing last year.

But winning all comes down to the same thing it came down to last year. The Steelers have an old quarterback, who’s not quite what he used to be. And they need a lot from Rodgers at age 42. He’s still good and smart and capable of some big plays. But he’s not the one-man show that he was a decade ago, or the error-free maestro he was five years ago when he won back-to-back MVPs. He’s no longer even a top 10 quarterback in the NFL.

Last year, he was good enough to lead this team to the playoffs. But this year, the division could be much tougher if Lamar Jackson stays healthy in Baltimore and Joe Burrow is around for a whole season in Cincinnati. Getting to 10 wins again could be quite the challenge for Pittsburgh. Eight seems like a more realistic goal. And finishing better than third in the division could be pretty tough, too.

First of all, Cleveland rocks. I don’t care what people say about it, it’s always been an underrated city. OK, not always, but it certainly has become one. And I’m sure Berea, Ohio — home of the Browns — rocks, too. 

If only it had a football team to match.

I’m sure new Browns coach Todd Monken thinks there’s something positive about the team he’s assembling on the shores of Lake Erie, and I’ll travel three hours through the hills of Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio valley to find out — apparently through a horrendous rain storm that is about to hit.

(By the time I get there, by the way, I’ll have driven almost 1,400 miles on this trip. I think I’ve passed 1,400 Sheetz gas stations along the way, too. Not nearly as many Flying J’s, though, so it’s probably good that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam sold all those.)

Anyway, back to Haslam’s Browns: Myles Garrett is gone. There’s still no viable quarterback in place. It’s hard to have faith in either Shedeur Sanders or what’s left of Deshaun Watson. But people have underestimated and overlooked Cleveland the city, so maybe we’re all doing it to the Browns, too?

I doubt it. But I’m certainly on the lookout for positives. I’m just not expecting to see many at practice on Monday afternoon.