The news broke over the weekend that quarterback Aaron Rodgers is back with the Steelers. As of Monday, that was apparently news to linebacker Payton Wilson.
Via Brooke Pryor of ESPN, Wilson was surprised to see Rodgers at the facility.
“I was walking in, and he was coming out, and it was good to see him,” Wilson said. “I was a little shocked, definitely.”
Unlike last year, when Rodgers showed up for the mandatory minicamp at the tail end of the offseason program, he signed and reported for the first day of OTAs. Which makes sense. There’s plenty of work to be done without long-time coach Mike Tomlin there, and there’s only so much time with which to get it done.
If this will be Rodgers’s last year (and it would be wise for everyone to assume that), he’ll want to savor every minute of it. And he’ll want to have it go as well as possible.
Showing up sends a message that he gives a shit. That he wants to help the Steelers do something they haven’t done in a decade — advance past the wild-card round of the playoffs.
The work now begins in earnest. While it hardly guarantees a good outcome, it’s a good sign that Rodgers is both signed and committed.