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Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers sees no advantage to playing in preseason vs. Packers: 'It's not real football' | Latest NFL News, Analysis & Updates | NFL.com

Aaron Rodgers sees no advantage in playing in preseason games and prefers not to participate. Coach Mike McCarthy has not ruled it out but acknowledges it may be counterproductive.

First seen Aug 12, 2026 · 1:01 PM UTC · last updated Aug 12 2:31 PM

Scoring Zone's Take

Aaron Rodgers sitting out preseason reps is a non-story for his fantasy outlook heading into draft season. Veteran quarterbacks skipping exhibition action is standard practice, and nothing here changes his role as the presumptive starter for whichever team he's slotted with. Draft him according to his established range as a late-round streaming or QB2 option based on arm talent and situation, not on preseason snap counts — those reps were never going to move his projection anyway.

The more relevant subplot is McCarthy's stated desire to get younger quarterbacks live action, which points to Will Howard and/or the backup competition seeing extended preseason run. That's worth monitoring in dynasty or deep-league contexts where roster spots for developmental quarterbacks matter, but it has no bearing on standard redraft leagues this August. Neither Howard nor any competing rookie has demonstrated anything here beyond "will get preseason snaps," which is not a fantasy signal in itself — avoid overreacting to camp buzz.

Drew Allar isn't in the NFL yet, so his inclusion in this cluster is purely tangential; there's no fantasy action item tied to him from this report.

Bottom line: no roster moves are warranted from this news. Keep Rodgers valued as your board already has him, note Howard as a name to track for backup-QB dynasty stashes if your league rosters deep enough, and don't spend a pick or waiver priority reacting to preseason participation decisions — this is coach-speak and quarterback-rest management, not a value shift.

Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers sees no advantage to playing in preseason vs. Packers: 'It's not real football'

Here's a countdown of the 10 best highlight plays made by quarterback Aaron Rodgers for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2025 NFL season.

42-year-old Aaron Rodgers doesn’t see much point in participating in preseason games.

"It's preseason," the quarterback said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's not real football. So if I do, great. If not, great.”

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy suggested to Rodgers earlier in camp that he could play upwards of 30 or 40 plays during preseason action. The more Rodgers has been asked about the possibility of playing Thursday against the Green Bay Packers, the clearer it’s become that entering Year 22, it’d be a waste of everyone’s time.

“Preseason's a lot different. Teams don't run anything anymore. They just really don’t,” Rodgers said. “Even joint practices. The first year we were doing them, it was fun because you got to play a team that wasn't going to play how they played in the preseason. They were going to show you a lot of different things they were working on. It was like a real day at camp.

“But as that got on, it just stopped being like that. It just turned into fights, and nobody showed anything. I think those are a waste of a day. I think preseason football is good to see guys with the pads on, under the lights, how they react to the nerves. But it's not real regular season football.”

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Asked directly if there is any advantage to him participating Thursday against his former team, Rodgers responded: “I don’t think so.”

Despite Rodgers' obvious protestations, McCarthy has not taken the veteran playing off the table. The coach noted on Tuesday that he plans to use his quarterbacks in three groupings -- the starter playing a series or two, his replacement finishing the first half and the third quarterback playing the entire second half.

Given the need for youngsters Will Howard and Drew Allar to play extensively in preseason action, Rodgers taking up reps seems counterproductive, particularly given the veteran’s stance on the subject. Instead, Rodgers would prefer to help nurse the first- and second-year QBs through the process.

“I like to be on the headset and calm everybody down,” Rodgers said. “Usually the first game, it's a little hectic on the headset, so I like to be the voice of reason -- an occasional dad joke or one-liner, just keep everybody settled in a little bit.”

Coverage from Nfl Dot Com News · by Kevin Patra · Aug 12, 2026 · read original