Aaron Rodgers’ presumably final NFL season has not been the grand success he had hoped for. But it was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ matchup against AFC North rivals Cleveland Browns on October 1 that broke the camel’s back. Rodgers seemed visibly frustrated during the game, and hot mics caught him cussing his coach out at one point when Mike McCarthy’s play calls didn’t come as quickly as he expected.
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But during Wednesday’s media availability, Rodgers finally spoke about the heated interaction that went viral online. Although he refused to comment on the timing issue he was facing with McCarthy’s play-calling, he said he and the Steelers’ head coach had discussed what happened on the field during the Thursday Night Football game that ended with a 27-24 loss for Pittsburgh.
“Yeah, Mike and I have talked,” Rodgers said when asked if the disagreement between the two was resolved. “It’s always ironed out… Yeah. We’ve had a lot of success together.”
Rodgers acknowledged that communicating this way wasn’t the norm for them, but explained that he had almost 20 years of history with McCarthy, starting with his early days at Green Bay, where McCarthy became head coach just one year after Rodgers was drafted.
McCarthy and Rodgers took the Packers to the Super Bowl XLV in 2011, which they won, ironically, by defeating the Steelers. In fact, the only reason the QB agreed to return to Pittsburgh for another season was because of McCarthy’s presence.
However, their journey was not without its hurdles. During an interview back in August, the veteran QB talked about how the two often talked through their disagreements to come to a resolution that worked best for the team.
“It was a lot of push and pull. He [McCarthy] gave me a lot of latitude, and I proved that I deserved latitude and could make it work, and when I went too far, he’d rein me back in,” Rodgers said.
So, while not ideal, Rodgers screaming “What the f***? Call it!” at McCarthy and the Steelers head coach slinging cuss words back at the player wasn’t something that fazed either of them long-term.
Rodgers wasn’t the only one downplaying the heated exchange either. Mike McCarthy admitted that while he regretted the words he used, he emphasized that emotions were running high and Rodgers was getting desperate.
“I wouldn’t classify it as normal, no. But I think the reality of it is, it’s a 20-year relationship.. I think the fact that we were able to sit and talk numerous times over the weekend about that and a number of things,” the Steelers HC said on Wednesday.
But the crux of the problem remained unaddressed. McCarthy famously uses a traditional West Coast offensive play-calling system, which involves giving highly detailed and descriptive instructions regarding exact formations, pass route combinations, and blocking schemes.
For Rodgers, who prefers memorizing the play rather than relying on a play-call wristband, any lag in McCarthy’s play-calling results in a greater delay. So, the delay in the head coach’s instructions on Thursday didn’t leave the QB with enough time to analyze the opponent’s alignment and make necessary adjustments.
But the onus of a delay in play-calling does not fall wholly on McCarthy alone.
Rodger Is Also Partially To Blame For Pittsburgh’s Struggle
One former Steelers quarterback seemed to believe Aaron Rodgers was just as responsible for the Steelers’ disorganized offense as McCarthy. On the ‘Snap Count’ podcast, Charlie Batch pointed out that the biggest issue was a distinct lack of overlap between Rodgers’ playing style and McCarthy’s West Coast system.
Batch pointed out that the sole reason why Mike McCarthy was forced to read out lengthy play calls before the league’s 15-second communicator cutoff was because Aaron Rodgers refused to wear wristbands.
“People forget that if you don’t get that play in before 15 seconds, the NFL automatically shuts that play calling down,” Batch explained. “So now you may be sitting half of the play and then have to fill it in in anticipation of what the coach may be calling in.”
So, the first order of business towards cleaning up this mess would be for Rodgers and McCarthy to figure out a compromise that allows the QB to have enough time to think through his coach’s instructions before reaching the line of scrimmage. Whether they would be able to execute that will become evident during their Week 5 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts on October 11.