His future Hall of Fame quarterback was out on the practice field Friday, taking some first-team reps just five days after suffering a wrist fracture.
Not that Mike Tomlin would admit it made him feel any better about Sunday’s game.
“I’m not in the comfort business,” the Pittsburgh Steelers coach said from UPMC Rooney Sports Complex fields soon after Aaron Rodgers practiced.
Rodgers, Tomlin said, was a partial participant in the session and was tabbed with a “questionable” designation on the status report in relation to Sunday’s game at the Chicago Bears.
“I thought I saw a solid effort,” Tomlin said of what he saw from Rodgers, “but it’s Friday.”
Saturday’s walkthrough is all that remains between now and Sunday’s 1 p.m. kickoff at Soldier Field. The Steelers must declare if Rodgers will be in uniform 90 minutes prior to that.
Tomlin indicated he wouldn’t publicly tip his hand until that deadline.
“We’ll see where the weekend leads us,” he said.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin provides his update on QB Aaron Rodgers’ status pic.twitter.com/ubEdbgG7oD
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 21, 2025
Because of the injury to his non-throwing (left) wrist, Rodgers did not play after halftime during this past Sunday’s victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. On Wednesday he missed his first practice since the regular season started. On Thursday, Rodgers took part but not in a role with the first-team offense in team drills. On Friday, there was at least some of that.
If Rodgers cannot play, veteran Mason Rudolph would make his first start of the season and first start for the Steelers since a January 2024 playoff game in Buffalo. Rookie Will Howard then would get bumped up from emergency No. 3 to the backup.
The 41-year-old Rodgers, who has been spotted wearing a covering on his wrist, said earlier this week that “safety” would be all that could prevent him from playing against Chicago, a team he is 24-5 against in his career. Tomlin said he needed to see “functionality” from Rodgers.
Pain tolerance, it seems, will not be an issue.
“He’s got some pretty unbelievable pain tolerance,” Howard said. “Just knowing what kind of pain that comes with that injury. I’ve broken my hand (in August) and broken my arms before. It’s painful, man. So the fact that he’s out there and going through reps, it says a lot about his pain tolerance. He’s a tough dude, man.”
Rudolph is 8-4-1 as a starter for the Steelers, including a three-game winning streak after he took over down the stretch to earn the team a playoff berth two years ago. Asked how Rudolph’s capabilities might affect the choice to play Rodgers, Tomlin called it “thoughtful decision-making that you go through almost routinely.”
Rodgers said his wrist makes it more difficult to take snaps under center than it does to work out of the shotgun, and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said in the past he has had occasions to design a game plan with all shotgun snaps because of a compromised quarterback.
Tomlin indicated the medical/training staffs would have sway in whether Rodgers plays Sunday.
“As soon as they secure it and know that he can protect himself,” Tomlin said, “they’ll be comfortable.”
