PITTSBURGH (AP) — Defining chemistry with a wide receiver is easy for Aaron Rodgers.
It's a nod. A wink. A glance. A gesture. Sometimes there are no verbal or physical cues at all, but an ESP of sorts culled from hours, weeks, months, and sometimes years spent together in meetings, on the plane, at dinner, on the field.
“Once it’s unspoken, you know, that’s where (it's) at its best,” the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback said.
Developing it? Well, that's
another matter. It's difficult even under ideal circumstances, and there's not a lot of that to go around in Pittsburgh at the moment.
When Rodgers and the Steelers (3-2) head to Tampa Bay (1-4) on Sunday to face the Buccaneers, they'll do it with three of their top five wide receivers on the depth chart in sweatpants.
Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. is out for at least another three games with a foot injury. Roman Wilson, finally productive after being freed from former coach Mike Tomlin's doghouse, is dealing with a banged-up hand. Rodgers' good friend and special teams ace Ben Skowronek is fighting through a balky calf.
So much for that team-building retreat to an undisclosed destination out West Rodgers invited all the Steelers pass catchers to during the offseason.
Yes, DK Metcalf will be out there against the Buccaneers. Tight ends Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, too. After that, however, things are pretty thin.
That whole “unspoken” thing isn't really an option yet for the rest, from rapidly improving rookie Germie Bernard to well-traveled veterans Brandon Smith, Brandon Johnson and Isaiah Hodgins.
“It takes a while,” Rodgers said. “But I have a lot of trust in those guys.”
Something that Rodgers doesn't just give away freely. There's a reason he enjoys giving impromptu pop quizzes in an effort to keep the new guys — and sometimes the older ones — engaged.
“It’s pretty eye-opening to see who knows the plan, see who knows who we’re playing and who their personnel is,” he said. “But I just think it’s important to keep those guys on their toes and keep those guys studying and making sure they’re watching film and knowing what’s in the plan.”
Having a four-time MVP and future Hall of Famer throwing questions out of nowhere can take a little getting used to. In that way, it wasn't the most comfortable onboarding process to the NFL for Bernard, a second-round pick out of Alabama who thought he had a pretty good handle on the responsibilities when he arrived in May, only to quickly understand that his football education was just beginning.
“He does a great job at teaching all of us, and especially me,” Bernard said. “He teaches me a lot every single day. He helps me learn it so I can grow and be a better player.”
And it didn't take long for Bernard to become the one asking the questions, not trying to test Rodgers' knowledge so much as absorb it.
The learning curve for Bernard is starting to level out. He posted season bests in targets (9), receptions (6), and yards (80) in last week's victory over Indianapolis. The highlight might have been a 25-yard gain on a busted play in which Bernard broke off his route when Rodgers came under pressure, then drifted back to the quarterback before catching the ball along the sideline and turning up field on a drive that set up Rodgers' game-clinching touchdown pass to Freiermuth.
Maybe it's Freiermuth's score that revealed how well Bernard is grasping the finer points of route running. He stood to Freiermuth’s right at the snap and expertly picked off Freiermuth's defender as he made his way across the field, doing it in a way that stayed on the right side of legality.
Rodgers noticed.
“I think he’s becoming a little bit more prepared and dialed in and it’s just confidence,” Rodgers said. “When a young player starts playing with confidence you see the potential of a player and I thought last week was a good step in the right direction for him.”
The next step is doing it on a consistent basis, which may be required with the wide receiver room having a very different feel on game days in the short term.
Smith, who has bounced from the NFL to the United Football League and back again in recent years and spent time with Rodgers when both were with the New York Jets, played a career-high 16 snaps against the Colts.
The nomadic Johnson has been released by the Steelers twice already this calendar year before being re-signed to the practice squad in September after being let go by the Las Vegas Raiders. Yes, he hasn't caught a pass since 2024, but he also spent months in the locker next to Rodgers last season, having conversations that can sometimes serve as a small part of the chemistry-building process.
No, don't expect Smith or Johnson — or even Metcalf probably — to develop the kind of innate connection Rodgers had with Davante Adams and Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb earlier in his career. Now in his 22nd and final season, there really isn't time for that.
Yet Rodgers also isn't necessarily looking for that. He's looking for growth and hoping he doesn't have to offer the same correction twice, something Bernard has avoided almost entirely, a positive sign of both his potential and the mentorship he receives on a daily basis.
“I know that you just have to continue to have a working mindset,” Bernard said. “You can never get comfortable because then that’s when you start messing up and then letting things distract you.”
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