Why Nick Wright Advised Steelers Not To Play Aaron Rodgers In Week 12

Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers are still determining whether the quarterback will play through a left wrist fracture against the Chicago Bears this Sunday. One TV pundit urged them against it.

Nick Wright warned the Steelers not to start Rodgers on Thursday’s “First Things First.” The FS1 analyst recalled getting a sling after suffering his own wrist injury so people would be more careful around him. His doctor was worried that someone would inadvertently bump into him and cause more damage.

While Rodgers almost certainly has a significantly higher pain tolerance, Wright doesn’t think it’s a good idea to expose the 41-year-old’s wrist to excessive contact.

“Do we think Aaron Rodgers is going to go an entire NFL football game and not get hit one time?” Wright asked.

Rodgers already has the quickest average time before throwing (2.5 seconds) of all starting quarterbacks after Tua Tagovailoa, and he’s not often looking deep with an average depth of target of 6.29 yards. Wright believes he’ll magnify those tendencies if playing through an injury and eliminate any explosiveness in Pittsburgh’s offense.

As a result, Wright wondered if the Steelers are better off turning to Mason Rudolph at Soldier Field.

“He already was playing such a safe style of football that I think it put their offense behind the eight ball in a lot of ways,” Wright argued. “If we are going to see a quicker release, more conservative Aaron Rodgers, then their best chance to win would be with Mason Rudolph. You can’t have — the guy was already playing almost a different position than everyone else. And now it’s going to be, ‘I have to be even more careful because if I fall down, I’m going to be out for the year.’ That’s crazy.”

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