{"id":999138,"date":"2026-08-13T23:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T23:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/999138\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T23:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T23:50:12","slug":"aaron-rodgers-will-sit-out-steelers-preseason-opener-quarterback-pecking-order-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/999138\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Rodgers Will Sit Out Steelers’ Preseason Opener, Quarterback Pecking Order Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite telling The Athletic\u2019s Michael Silver that he expected to play in the preseason<\/a> under new head coach Mike McCarthy, 42-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers won\u2019t see the field Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, who re-signed with the Steelers in May to reunite with McCarthy, won\u2019t dress for the matchup against his former team.<\/p>\n

Per Mike Prisuta, Bob Labriola, and Gerry Dulac on the DVE pregame show Thursday,<\/a> veteran Mason Rudolph will start. Will Howard will replace him and Drew Allar will play in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would imagine, because he wants Will Howard to replace Mason Rudolph, that he\u2019ll have a chance to work with some guys who probably have a chance to be on the roster in September,\u201d Dulac said of the pecking order. \u201cUnlike Drew Allar, in the second half, probably be working with a lot of guys who might not be on the roster in September.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodgers previously told Silver he expected to play in the preseason opener against the Packers and the second preseason game against the New York Jets, both former teams. According to Rodgers, McCarthy expected him to play 30-40 snaps in the preseason, a number higher than many expected.<\/p>\n

But McCarthy was noncommittal, saying that while he would like Rodgers to play some in the preseason, he would decide right before the game. On Tuesday, McCarthy stated Rodgers preferred to play in the preseason, but Rodgers later told the media that it\u2019s not real football and he doesn\u2019t really need it.<\/p>\n

It seems that with so much at stake this season, the Steelers and McCarthy are taking the safe approach, keeping the veteran quarterback out of harm\u2019s way against the Packers. It\u2019s interesting, though, that the Packers are giving starter Jordan Love reps to open the preseason<\/a> even with the same head coach and offensive scheme as last year, while Rodgers won\u2019t play.<\/p>\n

The Steelers must get off to a fast start early in 2026, especially with how tough the second half of the schedule is. Starting fast offensively is key, and one would think having Rodgers as sharp as possible with plenty of preseason reps would aid in that much-needed fast start.<\/p>\n

Howard and Allar will make their in-stadium debuts. Howard missed last preseason due to a hand injury, while Allar was the team\u2019s third-round pick in April.<\/p>\n

McCarthy told reporters earlier this week that the first group will play a series or two, with the second group finishing out the half. A third group will play the third and fourth quarters. All plans, however, are subject to change based on game circumstances.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s next preseason game is on August 21st, a home game versus the New York Jets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite telling The Athletic\u2019s Michael Silver that he expected to play in the preseason under new head coach…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":999139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[10],"tags":[2390,24895,67134,1545,62,939,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-999138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-gerry-dulac","tag-mike-prisuta","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-sports","tag-trending","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117090886151966328","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/999139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}