Aaron Rodgers Press Conference (July 28) — Pittsburgh Steelers

[0:00] If I can start by asking something that we probably should have asked last time we talked. [0:03] You mentioned that this was it. [0:05] I guess what led you to that decision and why did you feel, [0:09] why did you want to share it before the season started? [0:13] I don't know. [0:14] Somebody asked me about it. [0:15] I don't remember what the context was, but yeah, this is it. [0:20] No, I guess why, what is it, why is this it? [0:24] I thought last year might be it. [0:28] And then Mike got hired and I talked to the wife and she said, [0:33] and you can do one more year. [0:35] I said, well, see if it works out. [0:38] And then it kind of all came together. [0:50] Another year. [0:51] Do you still have any kind of debate? [0:54] No, zero debate. [0:58] Zero. [0:58] What's the biggest thing that excites you about having McCarthy coaching us? [1:03] Well, it's just the history. [1:05] We got 13 years together. [1:07] Had a long track record of success and playoff run, Super Bowl championship. [1:14] And then just the full circle, seeing each other now where we're at in life. [1:20] I think I'm the same age that he was when he got hired in Green Bay. [1:24] So that's a nice full circle moment for both of us. [1:27] Is there something philosophically or schematically that you guys particularly click with? [1:31] Do you see the game the same way? [1:33] Do you attack it the same way? [1:35] Yeah, the West Coast offense, which is basically gone in the NFL other than what Mike's doing. [1:40] Aaron, how do you view the significance of that trip you guys took out West? [1:45] D.K. was talking about the camaraderie. [1:47] What do you think comes out of that and how it impacts you guys? [1:53] I think a lot is made about those trips. [1:58] I think probably overblown at times. [2:00] The most important chemistry is as the season gets going for sure. [2:04] But the thing I will say is that you spend six months with guys every single day. [2:11] Then you go on a trip for four days. [2:13] And after the trip, you feel like, man, I didn't even know these guys before these four days. [2:17] So it was good bonding around the campfire, good activities out where we were at. [2:23] And got out on the river and fished and did some things and rode some horses. [2:27] And we had a good time. [2:28] One thing D.K. would say is that a goal of his is to increase his communication with you during the course of the week [2:35] and your connectivity so what you talked about during the week manifests on Sunday. [2:40] Once the ball is snapped, what more do you think you can get out of D.K. this year? [2:45] And how can that relationship grow once the game begins? [2:48] Oh, I don't know. [2:49] I mean, this is what this training camp is for. [2:52] I think we had a nice start in the OTAs. [2:55] I thought he was super productive. [2:56] He actually greeted me last night at the dorms. [3:01] He's my roommate again, which I was excited about. [3:04] He helped me unload my stuff. [3:07] I'd say we're in a real good place as far as our friendship. [3:10] He looks incredible. [3:12] He said he's about his normal weight, but he's lower body fat percentage. [3:17] You know, D.K. is a rare specimen. [3:20] I think he likes the offense, likes the opportunities that he saw in the OTAs. [3:24] And just about finding a way to, you know, get on the same page in this second year together [3:30] and training camp as we get going. [3:31] And, you know, not put any crazy expectations on what it has to look like at certain times. [3:36] The most important thing, like he said, is the communication. [3:38] And I think it's been really good. [3:39] Last year you didn't really take many, if any, practices off. [3:42] A lot of veteran quarterbacks don't do that necessarily. [3:45] Is that important to you? [3:46] And do you expect this year to be any different? [3:47] Do you expect to pay more? [3:48] Or do you be out there? [3:50] I'd like a couple days off. [3:51] I already told the boss that. [3:53] But, you know, some of the things working against me is he was with me forever [4:00] and he knows how much I love to practice, which I do. [4:04] So I think it's a little push and pull. [4:07] I'm not sure what the final decision was. [4:09] Actually, Mike T. had some days slotted for me to be off, [4:12] and then we had some rain out practices. [4:14] So he counted those gym, you know, walkthroughs as my days off. [4:19] So I would like a couple. [4:21] That would be nice. [4:21] Mike McCarthy's talked to us a couple times about his QB school. [4:26] Just what do you remember as a young quarterback about going through that [4:29] and what some of the benefits might have been? [4:32] Yeah, there's a lot of benefits. [4:34] You know, I did it with Tom Arth my first time. [4:36] Now he's my coach. [4:38] Tom, I've said this before, prettiest heel-toe drop I've ever seen. [4:43] I still like to remind him of that, [4:45] how he used to just make me look bad every single day. [4:48] And, you know, it was a crazy workout back then, [4:50] just the two of us doing 45 minutes nonstop. [4:53] So one, it got us in shape. [4:56] Two, you know, you're doing stuff you don't normally do, [4:58] like jump rope, which I think is a really important kind of footwork thing. [5:02] There's quick feet in that. [5:04] And then the drill work is working on, you know, [5:08] throwing on the run from different angles and different, you know, [5:12] targets you're looking at. [5:13] So it's way different, though. [5:14] The QB school, whatever he's calling it now, is not what it was back then. [5:17] I mean, that was March 15th, that was three days a week, [5:21] that was going overtime sometimes. [5:25] But the QB profile that he does do, I think, [5:27] is a good learning tool for all young quarterbacks. [5:31] But they missed out on the real work back then when the rules were different. [5:35] And once you decide you want to play, [5:37] do you have to assess whether you think you still can to your standard? [5:41] And how do you do that? [5:42] Yeah, for sure. [5:44] I mean, it's get back into the workout, see how the body feels, [5:48] and then, you know, start to throw and see how the arms respond. [5:53] And the arm has never been an issue, really, in all my 20-plus years playing [5:57] and before that. [5:59] Never really had any arm issues. [6:02] Light soreness early at camp, maybe the first couple days, [6:05] but never, you know, any issues with that. [6:07] It's just a leg. [6:08] So, you know, I did my usual, spend a lot of time with my body work folks [6:13] and try and lengthen muscles and open things up and feel better. [6:18] And, you know, then obviously I wanted to feel like I could come out in OTAs [6:22] and, you know, have the rhythm at the time and throw it, [6:25] and I feel like OTAs went really smooth. [6:27] And, you know, we'll see how camp goes. [6:29] Obviously it's always, like, ups and downs, [6:31] and it's way more scrutinized than it used to be back in the day. [6:35] So, you know, there'll be a new learning curve for all of us as we get into it. [6:41] But I feel like by the second week we'll start to hit our stride. [6:43] Do you expect it to feel any different knowing that it's your last time around [6:47] as you're going through things? [6:49] I mean, I thought it might. [6:50] Like last year it felt way more dramatic to me. [6:52] Like, oh, it's my last, you know, arrival to training camp. [6:56] And this year it doesn't feel anything. [6:58] You know, I really don't. [6:59] I'm just happy to be out here with the guys. [7:02] It's good to see some of their faces I haven't seen in a while. [7:06] Good to see the, you know, the six guys that went on the trip with us again. [7:09] I feel like there's, like, a tighter bond. [7:11] They'll have to bring in some of the other guys who weren't at that trip. [7:15] But, you know, it was good. [7:17] With that trip last year you guys went to Malibu, you hosted everyone. [7:21] How did you decide where you went this year [7:23] and where were you exactly the Wild West? [7:26] A lot of the guys wanted a Malibu trip. [7:31] They wanted to go to Nobu. [7:33] They wanted to see the Dolphins. [7:34] They wanted to put the feet in the sand. [7:37] And so this spring I said, hey, what do you guys want to do this time? [7:41] And they said experience. [7:42] They wanted to do an experience. [7:44] I said, okay, what are you talking about? [7:45] Do you want to go to Hawaii or something? [7:47] They said, no, we want to go to the mountains. [7:49] We want to, like, do, like, a ranch thing. [7:51] So I, you know, did a lot of research and found a couple places. [7:55] And then this place, you know, came available. [7:59] And we're very thankful to the person that made that happen. [8:05] I'm not allowed to speak on where it is, any of that thing. [8:09] But it was a great time. [8:12] Aaron, what is your number one area that you would like to improve on going into this year? [8:18] I mean, I don't know. [8:19] I work on stuff every single day. [8:21] I have to think about that. [8:24] It's day one. [8:24] I'm just coming out of getting my passport renewal. [8:27] So, you know, that was my main goal today was to make sure I can go to France. [8:32] So I think we're going to be locked in on that. [8:34] But I'll be working on things every single day. [8:36] You know, it's more just it's a different offense. [8:38] There's different terminology. [8:40] Mike was flexible and changing a few things in the spring. [8:43] But, you know, it'll be a work in progress with the offense. [8:46] Aaron, Mike has a history of his team's throwing at the highest rates on first downs in the NFL. [8:55] It's a change of pace for what the Steelers have been of recently. [8:58] What are the key elements that you guys need to achieve to make that [9:02] and be one of those better teams at throwing on first down? [9:05] We've got to be under center. [9:07] You know, we've got to be under center and get the action game going [9:12] and the movement game going. [9:14] But it starts under center. [9:15] I think some of the best offenses in the league are not shotgun happy. [9:20] You know, they're not too shotgun happy. [9:21] Obviously, in third down, you give me a shotgun. [9:23] But the more you can be under center in the first, second down, [9:26] I think it's really important to be efficient on those downs as well. [9:29] Aaron, how different is a Mike McCarthy training camp [9:32] to maybe some of the other ones that you've participated in [9:34] over the course of your career? [9:36] Well, you've got to understand, like, I was with Mike in 2006, [9:39] and that was back when you could do double days. [9:41] So we had 2-1-2-1 alternating. [9:44] My first year was double days for the first couple weeks of camp. [9:48] But so training camp is way different. [9:50] It's way easier. [9:52] It's like a mental grind. [9:53] It's not a physical grind the way it used to be. [9:56] Now, knowing Mike and his Pittsburgh grit background, [10:01] I'm sure he's going to try and make some gagger practices out there. [10:05] But the rules are in place where there's a certain time frame. [10:08] I don't know if it's 2 hours and 20 minutes or 2.30 or something. [10:12] Back then, we used to joke about how quarterbacks would be on the field [10:15] like 20 minutes before practice. [10:17] We'd have a 3-hour and 15-minute practice. [10:19] We'd get into, like I used to say, the real practice, [10:22] like an hour and 45 in because it would be so much individual work. [10:27] Those were real practices. [10:29] Those were not a whole lot of fun. [10:31] So I'm not sure what the Mike McCarthy training camp practice would be like, [10:35] but I know that the OTAs were crisp. [10:37] You guys saw them out there. [10:38] It was crisp. [10:39] Things were moving fast, in and out of team periods, [10:41] and I expect more of the same. [10:43] Two more, guys, two more. [10:45] Have you learned anything about DK this offseason [10:47] that maybe you didn't know over last year or last season? [10:51] Yeah, a lot of personal stuff, for sure. [10:55] Again, like, you know, I spent a lot of time with DK in the offseason [10:59] and during the season and outside the facility. [11:02] And, you know, four days at the ranch, you know, [11:05] I found out more about him than I'd known in that time. [11:07] And I think that's part of the plot of being kind of a man, you know, [11:14] an alpha in this society. [11:15] Today it's hard to be vulnerable. [11:17] And, you know, I was trying to create the space where that was kind of normal. [11:20] So I tried to be as honest and open as possible about kind of my own life [11:25] and background and struggles and frustrations. [11:26] And a lot of guys opened up and shared some really personal stuff. [11:31] And I'm obviously not going to share that here. [11:33] But, yeah, man, I just have so much respect for DK [11:36] and kind of how he grew up and where he's from. [11:39] And I just feel like I really got to know him. [11:41] And now, you know, before we were friends, [11:42] but now I just feel like that word has a different meaning to it. [11:45] What excites you about this receiver room this year [11:48] with the addition of Michael Pittman [11:50] and drafting Jeremy Bernard and another year with Roman Wilson as well? [11:54] Yeah, I mean, those three, DK, obviously, I think this offense, you know, suits DK. [12:01] I think Michael and his humility as a Z, [12:04] asking him to do a lot of stuff that, you know, [12:07] I feel like we did when we were really good on offense in Green Bay in 20 and 21 [12:11] with Devontae at the X, you know, in the DK role, [12:16] Alan Lazard in the Z, and Marquez. [12:21] And, you know, you got to stick your head in there and block. [12:25] And then off of that, some action stuff. [12:27] And then having a guy in the slot that can get open, [12:30] which, you know, I think Jerome's going to get some opportunities. [12:33] But I think the guy out of anybody that's really shown this new staff, [12:38] because it is a new staff, you know, a lot of great tape is Roman Wilson. [12:42] I think Roman had a really nice spring. [12:45] Got to know him, you know, on a deeper level during that trip, which was fun. [12:49] But I expect, you know, I expect him to start to make some splash plays. [12:55] He did in the spring. [12:56] And I expect him to have a nice camp. [12:58] All right.