Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger loved what he saw out of Aaron Rodgers in Week 1, but he does have one big concern.
The Steelers' offensive line wasn't good enough in pass protection. Rodgers was pressured eight times and took four sacks, three of which came from left tackle Broderick Jones, who struggled mightily.
Roethlisberger is rightly concerned about how Rodgers' 41-year-old body is going to hold up if he keeps taking punishment like he did against the New York Jets.
“The only thing — there were four sacks. None of those that I saw were Aaron’s fault. There were times when he came up with a play fake and there was a guy in his face, maybe some coverage stuff, but it wasn’t anything like he’s just back there holding the ball forever," Big Ben said on his podcast.
"So, I’m very encouraged by the way Aaron played," Roethlisberger added. "My concern is going to be, moving forward, can Aaron take a beating like that every week? Not at that age because some of those, even when he didn’t get sacked, he got hit so hard, he came off the ground, and he’s forty-something, and that’s not good.”
To his credit, Rodgers tried to deflect blame from the offensive line, saying he stepped into one or two sacks in the 34-32 win. Rodgers also admitted he had tightness in his back and wasn't moving as well as he normally does.
"I might be old, but I still feel like I can move around pretty good, and I wasn't moving the way I usually like to move," he said, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor.
But anyone who watched Sunday's game knows the blocking wasn't up to snuff and that's something that has got to change, especially at left tackle.
Jones has been a liability since 2024 and there doesn't seem to be any improvement on his end. Head coach Mike Tomlin isn't going to make a switch yet, nor should he, but it has to at least be under consideration moving forward.
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