PHOTO BY EVAN SIEGLE, GREEN BAY PACKERS

I’m going to pick up today where I left off in my last column and talk about Aaron Rodgers.

I know, I know, again.

Still, I feel the need to emphasize again how critical it’s going to be — now that Rodgers has signed a contract and practiced with the Steelers — for the coaching staff to trust him when it comes to calling audibles at the line of scrimmage.

Given Rodgers’ experience, that should be a non-issue.

Except the Steelers in recent seasons, whether it happened to be Matt Canada or Arthur Smith coordinating the offense, have been reluctant to empower their quarterbacks in such a fashion. The likes of Kenny Pickett and Justin Fields, to name two, weren’t trusted because of their youth. And veteran Russell Wilson, in the end, proved to be not very good at identifying what would work best against a particular defense.

So the reluctance on the part of the coaching staff to incorporate what seemingly would be an obvious option into what has for too long now been a struggling offense has been understandable if not advantageous.

Now that Rodgers — with his 20 years of experience — is about to take over, that has to change.

“When you have a guy like Aaron Rodgers, I personally believe it’s insanity not to give the reins and trust a guy who’s inside those white lines, who understands and feels the game and knows the game and is gonna get us in the best possible position,” former Steelers running back Merril Hoge emphasized this week on a visit with the DVE Morning Show. “That’s a massive advantage for your team. If we have a guy who can get us in and out of plays and we can always be in a good spot, give us that opportunity, that’s just overall common sense of what you would do from that perspective.

“Man, there’s great wisdom there, there’s great experience. Utilize that and use it to your advantage. You’re at liberty, if we got something called, I give you a play, it ain’t gonna work, get us into something that will. Now, we’ll talk through those processes, give you some options to help you, but trust the guy. To not do that is not taking advantage of what you brought him here for. I would be shocked if they didn’t utilize that.”

Glad we finally got that cleared up.

But assuming that actually turns out to be the case, what might it look like in a game?

One of the reasons audibles have become, as Smith acknowledged, such a “hot button topic” in recent seasons is quarterbacks, in general, would rather throw the football (Rodgers, in particular, fits that description).

Coaches, on the other hand, generally prefer the control of a running game that is less likely to produce splash plays but also less likely to turn the ball over (if you look up the description of such a coach in the dictionary, you’ll see Mike Tomlin’s picture).

So how does this marriage work?

The same way any marriage does, through compromise on both sides.

“At the end of the day, to really have a chance to win the way the Steelers are built right now, with their strengths and weaknesses, and this is the key for every team, you have to control the tempo and you can’t turn the ball over,” Hoge continued. “So let’s say they do a good job, don’t turn the ball over. To control the tempo, man, you have to be able to run the football.

“You’re going to have to be able to do that. And at some point even Aaron Rodgers has to give a little bit, ‘This is how we have to play to win.’ Now, you’re not just a complement, you’re an extraordinary aspect or phase of the passing game. But we’re not gonna be able to chuck it all over the place like you’ve been used to. We’re gonna have to have some type of balance here.”

Rodgers, in other words, need not re-invent the Steelers’ wheel.

But by applying his wisdom judiciously, they can be something other than stuck in the middle.

“This isn’t just getting us to a pass play,” Hoge summarized. “This is getting us to a good run play. We come up, we have a strong side run, well, they have over-fronts there but they’re vulnerable on the weak side. You gotta get us to a weak-side run. It’s not just about getting us in a good passing play, it’s getting us in a good running play.

“I just think there’s a massive upside as long as everybody can be reasonable. Everybody’s gonna have to give a little bit, shut their ego down just a touch, but share their wisdom and ego, too, and have that blend and balance. That’s how you’re gonna get the best out of both sides and you’re gonna get the best out of Aaron Rodgers.”

So it can work as long as the quarterback and the coaches are willing to check their respective egos at the door?

What could possibly go wrong?

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.