On Tuesday, there was a lot of talk about the trading deadline and what the Steelers might do.
On Wednesday, all was quiet.
"What I've learned about the trading deadline," said quarterback Aaron Rodgers, "is there's a lot of conversation and rarely is there a lot of action. Maybe a little bit more the last few years, but in my early days, there was hardly ever any roster moves at the deadline. There were some big ones yesterday. But you know, you feel pretty good about your guys."
A former teammate of Rodgers, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, was added to the practice squad. The 6-4, 206-pound receiver is an eighth-year veteran who spent four seasons in Green Bay (2018-21), where he caught 123 passes at an average of 17.5 yards per catch. He's been planted at the locker next to Rodgers, who can obviously help the newcomer grasp the Steelers offense.
"I can translate the offense we ran in Green Bay for a number of years into this offense," Rodgers said. "He's a smart guy. He's played a lot of football, been around a long time, been productive, so I'm sure he'll pick it up pretty quick."
Rodgers told Valdes-Scantling something else about his new team.
"I was telling Marquez there are no bad apples in here," Rodgers said. "There's nobody you worry about, nobody with consistent late issues or team-rule issues. Not that there's a lot of rules in general. But, nah, there's a bunch of good guys in here that care about each other and play for each other."
But are there enough receivers?
"That's a lot outside talk," Rodgers said. "You got to look at the way we're playing and the personnel groupings that we like. We're a multiple personnel team. We run a lot of guys out there. We had an offensive lineman play a lot of snaps. Obviously, Darnell (Washington) plays a lot of snaps, and Jonnu (Smith) and Pat (Freiermuth), and Connor (Heyward) get in there on some plays, rotating three different backs, a lot of different receivers, so we're not a big three-receiver team in general. And Calvin's (Austin) come back and played really well for us. Roman's (Wilson) been more consistent. So, there was probably more noise outside of the facility than maybe inside the facility."
Rodgers, of course, spends time with each receiver during practice. He mentioned the strong week of practice enjoyed by Wilson the week before his career game against the Packers. Rodgers this week relayed a story about how working with Freiermuth paid off against the Colts.
"The play I hit Pat on," Rodgers said of the 12-yard touchdown pass that gave the Steelers a 14-7 lead, "was a play we worked on since training camp, and it didn't quite look right until about two-and-a-half weeks ago. Me and Pat worked on the side with it, and we talked about, 'If you just wait a little longer on that and sell it and really get your feet in the ground, I think it's gonna open up more.'
"Now, that was for match coverage. They played cover four on that one, but, because he waited, the ball was able to be completed between the safety and the corner, and then he made a beautiful, athletic play to get in the end zone.
"When you see stuff like that in practice, it allows you to have the confidence to go to that guy on those plays in the game. And the other part is, and I'll say it again just because it means so much to me, but when a guy's not getting the ball and they still show up to work the same way every single day, every single week, there's a lot to be said for that. And I've mentioned Pat. I mentioned Roman. Calvin at times. DK (Metcalf). There's a lot to be said for that."
