Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy spent 13 seasons together in Green Bay. Their 14th season together will be their last, as Rodgers plans to retire following the 2026 season. While there's obviously a lot of familiarity, there's also going to be an adjustment period.
"He's changed some stuff when he was in Dallas with Dak [Prescott]," Rodgers said Wednesday. "I'll battle on a couple things that I'll be stubborn about, terminology-wise. I think part of the process is just growing. Me having to adjust some of the stuff that I've done or terminology I like. So it's a fun learning experience right now. There's a couple times a today he's calling plays in the huddle, and I'm asking, what does this mean? It's stuff that we used to run, but he's just called it something different now. So, it's a good part of the learning process."
The two have not been together since 2018 when McCarthy was let go midseason. Since then, McCarthy went on to coach five years in Dallas and Rodgers won two MVP awards with Matt LaFleur as head coach in Green Bay.
Rodgers has also aged since then. He was 35 for the majority of the 2018 season, and he'll turn 43 in December this year. McCarthy will have to learn and adjust his offense based on what Rodgers is now, not what he was before.
For as much as McCarthy's offense has evolved, outside of some of the changes to terminology, nothing is taking Rodgers by surprise.
"I think it's just the next generation of the West Coast offense," Rodgers said, describing how McCarthy's offense has evolved. "It went kind of Bill Walsh to kind of what Mike was doing with Paul Hackett, and then it's kind of grown from there. It's incorporated some of the schematic stuff from the offenses around the league, and some of the motion stuff that you see so much of the [Kyle] Shanahan tree doing. I think from a real fundamental level, it's all about the quarterback's timing. There's been good detail on all the route concepts of when you need to be open and how important the depth is. As a quarterback, you used to say, you should be able to throw balls blind knowing guys are going to be in certain spots. So, can we get those guys on the same page and knowing the timing and the spacing of the passing game."
There's plenty of time to work on that timing. Rodgers attending the early stages of OTAs is giving him the opportunity to not just learn the offense with all of his new receivers, including Michael Pittman Jr. and second-round pick Germie Bernard, but applying it on the football field, too.
Ultimately, this is one of the reasons why the Steelers wanted Rodgers back in the fold by OTAs, not mandatory minicamp. There's a lot that's changed for the Steelers. And just because Rodgers and McCarthy have 13 seasons of experience together, this is not like they're picking up right where they left off.
"It's endless," McCarthy said of how beneficial it is to have Rodgers at OTAs. "He's a tremendous resource, and I would recommend that all of our players spend as much time with him as possible. ... He has a lot to offer, and he's always been really good at sharing that with younger players. So, he's a tremendous asset for us."
THE ASYLUM
Rodgers, McCarthy reunited, also relearning
Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy spent 13 seasons together in Green Bay. Their 14th season together will be their last, as Rodgers plans to retire following the 2026 season. While there's obviously a lot of familiarity, there's also going to be an adjustment period.
"He's changed some stuff when he was in Dallas with Dak [Prescott]," Rodgers said Wednesday. "I'll battle on a couple things that I'll be stubborn about, terminology-wise. I think part of the process is just growing. Me having to adjust some of the stuff that I've done or terminology I like. So it's a fun learning experience right now. There's a couple times a today he's calling plays in the huddle, and I'm asking, what does this mean? It's stuff that we used to run, but he's just called it something different now. So, it's a good part of the learning process."
The two have not been together since 2018 when McCarthy was let go midseason. Since then, McCarthy went on to coach five years in Dallas and Rodgers won two MVP awards with Matt LaFleur as head coach in Green Bay.
Rodgers has also aged since then. He was 35 for the majority of the 2018 season, and he'll turn 43 in December this year. McCarthy will have to learn and adjust his offense based on what Rodgers is now, not what he was before.
For as much as McCarthy's offense has evolved, outside of some of the changes to terminology, nothing is taking Rodgers by surprise.
"I think it's just the next generation of the West Coast offense," Rodgers said, describing how McCarthy's offense has evolved. "It went kind of Bill Walsh to kind of what Mike was doing with Paul Hackett, and then it's kind of grown from there. It's incorporated some of the schematic stuff from the offenses around the league, and some of the motion stuff that you see so much of the [Kyle] Shanahan tree doing. I think from a real fundamental level, it's all about the quarterback's timing. There's been good detail on all the route concepts of when you need to be open and how important the depth is. As a quarterback, you used to say, you should be able to throw balls blind knowing guys are going to be in certain spots. So, can we get those guys on the same page and knowing the timing and the spacing of the passing game."
There's plenty of time to work on that timing. Rodgers attending the early stages of OTAs is giving him the opportunity to not just learn the offense with all of his new receivers, including Michael Pittman Jr. and second-round pick Germie Bernard, but applying it on the football field, too.
Ultimately, this is one of the reasons why the Steelers wanted Rodgers back in the fold by OTAs, not mandatory minicamp. There's a lot that's changed for the Steelers. And just because Rodgers and McCarthy have 13 seasons of experience together, this is not like they're picking up right where they left off.
"It's endless," McCarthy said of how beneficial it is to have Rodgers at OTAs. "He's a tremendous resource, and I would recommend that all of our players spend as much time with him as possible. ... He has a lot to offer, and he's always been really good at sharing that with younger players. So, he's a tremendous asset for us."
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