Aaron Rodgers was both logical and philosophical when asked what the Steelers need in order to bounce back from Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
"I don't like getting too binary," said Rodgers, "but winning. That's a good response. But we can't get attached to the binary system that our league is judged on, necessarily, because it is a 17-game season, and the process has to be great. So just dig into the details in the process, enjoy it, practice well, and then let game day take care of itself."
Rodgers had just completed Wednesday's practice when he met the Pittsburgh media. He was asked to gauge the team's response so far.
"I haven't seen anybody hanging their heads," Rodgers said. "The most important thing, like I said after the game, is it's a marathon, not a sprint. Can't ride the ups and downs. You have to embrace the results that happen and take a look at your process every single week, whether it's a win on the scoreboard or a loss.
"And great competitors know that sometimes their best is not going to be good enough on some days, but your best is not just a game-day performance. Your best is a weekly accumulation of how you prepared on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, how you practice Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then the communication that you exhibited during the week as well. So as long as we stay on those things, game days take care of themselves."
The wisdom of a 41-year-old quarterback mixed with the arm of a 28-year-old. It's a lethal combination the Steelers will have at their helm when they return to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA, where the Steelers haven't won since 2008.
Rodgers is 0-2 at Gillette Stadium, with the second loss occurring last season as a member of the Jets. The Patriots scored a touchdown with 22 seconds left to win 25-22.
"We had a chance," Rodgers said. "We were up five last year with like two minutes left, and they hit a big, big pass. We were tied with them going into the fourth in '18, and then got beat by a couple scores. I didn't play in 2010. Matt Flynn played, played well, but we gave up one of the greatest plays I've been a part of in my NFL history, and that's when Dan Connolly had a kickoff return that almost went for a touchdown. Hated that it was against us, but as a lover of the big guys, when they get the opportunity to show the athleticism, there may have been a few of us on the sideline who had a very tiny, quiet 'go' on that play.
"But, yeah, be nice to get a win there."
Connolly, a Patriots guard, picked up a squib kick and rumbled 71 yards to the Green Bay 4 to set an NFL return record for offensive linemen. Rodgers called that 'one of the greatest plays.'
But he also had similar words his running back, giving high praise to Jaylen Warren for his 65-yard reception Sunday.
"One of the greatest catch-and-runs I've seen," Rodgers said. "That catch-and-run and those jumps that (Warren) made were pretty incredible."
Combining both rushing (48) and receiving (86), Warren led all players Sunday with 134 yards of total offense. Mike Tomlin had said a day earlier that Warren "came to play. I thought he won one-on-ones. He oftentimes made the first tackler miss. He had a good pad level in downhill finish in his play."
"He's kind of what I thought from afar," Rodgers said of Warren. "I think the biggest compliment I can give him is when you're behind a four-straight 1,000-yard rusher, you're seen as a 'change-up' back, and he's a guy who could be a number one back on any team in the league. So, really thankful for him."
Both Rodgers and Tomlin agree the offense needs to run the ball better. Rodgers, although he dislikes being "binary," said it's the clearcut answer in terms of what the offense needs most against teams playing more two-high (safeties) zone coverage against the Steelers.
"We gotta run the ball," Rodgers said. "They play two-high, you gotta run the ball. And that's the last five or six years coming out of the Seahawks (cover) Three that went around the league. You've got to run the football against these combo coverages and two-high coverages. If you run the football, you have a chance to have some good play-action stuff."
