Brooke Pryor
LATROBE, Pa. — Aaron Rodgers may need discovered the fitting staff match within the Pittsburgh Steelers, however he is nonetheless in search of the fitting match on his head.
The particular helmet the quarterback wore final season, the Schutt Air XP Professional Q11 LTD, is now banned for failing to fulfill new security requirements.
Rodgers, due to this fact, has been practising within the Schutt Air XP Professional VTD II — and he is not a fan.
“I do not prefer it, no,” the star quarterback stated Tuesday. “I am making an attempt to alter. We're within the course of nonetheless. It appears to be like like a rattling spaceship on the market.
“We received to alter it. The face masks does not match the helmet as a result of that is an outdated face masks, clearly similar to I am outdated, however we're looking for the fitting helmet proper now.”
At minicamp earlier this summer season, Rodgers lamented his frustrations with the helmet change.
“I can not stand the helmet,” Rodgers stated in June. “I've worn a Schutt for 20 years, and one way or the other it lastly did not move the protection commonplace.”
Whereas Rodgers is pissed off along with his ongoing helmet saga, rookie quarterback Will Howard is coping with frustrations stemming from a “freak accident” that resulted in a damaged finger on his throwing hand. Howard, who suffered the harm on a center-quarterback trade final week, stated he initially thought he simply jammed his finger and went on to take two extra reps within the staff interval. Throughout the subsequent particular person interval, although, he knew one thing was critically fallacious.
“I could not actually seize the ball, and I used to be like, I feel one thing's form of tousled right here,” Howard stated. “It did not really feel proper. I can usually tolerate ache fairly effectively, however I actually couldn't grip the soccer, so I knew one thing was tousled. So then we got here up, received it checked out and it's what it's. So I imply, we're hoping I can get again quickly, however we'll see. I do not, I nonetheless do not know.”
The sixth-round decide stated he is not having surgical procedure on the break, however he has been sporting an immobilizer round his ring and pinkie fingers on his throwing hand.
“It sucks,” stated Howard, who was listed because the third-string quarterback on the depth chart, behind Rodgers and Mason Rudolph, earlier than his harm. “Each ounce of me needs to be on the market enjoying, and I am simply sitting right here doing nothing. It kills me, particularly on one thing as what felt like dumb to me. It was only a freak accident, however issues occur, and it is about the way you reply to it and the way you deal with the adversity.”
Howard described the harm as “week-to-week” and stated he does not know whether or not he'll be capable to return to take part in any of the preseason video games.
“I do not know,” he stated. “I actually, I hope so. I used to be simply going to must see how this heals, and I do know I defer to Coach [Mike] Tomlin on virtually of that stuff. I am nonetheless simply taking it daily, week by week and doing what I can to remain prepared so I haven't got to prepare. So if that chance does current itself, I will be prepared, and I simply need to keep bodily in form. I might love a possibility to get on the market, and we'll see what occurs.”
