PHOTO BY EVAN SIEGLE, GREEN BAY PACKERS

Organized Team Activities, the voluntary offseason workouts the Pittsburgh Steelers began staging this week, were destined to be a waiting game all along.

But they’re waiting on more than just Aaron Rodgers — although the quarterback drama, naturally, is dominating the headlines.

“‘Aaron Rodgers Watch’ looms over team as Steelers open OTAs,” read one headline on TribLIVE.com.

“Aaron Rodgers uncertainty looms over first day of Steelers OTAs,” the Post-Gazette agreed on Tuesday, after the first of the Steelers’ six scheduled voluntary spring sessions.

These are the stories you’re going to get when you keep asking quarterback questions, as a local media corps fully aware of Steeler Nation’s quarterback obsession continues to do dutifully and relentlessly.

I kept looking up while prowling the fields at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Tuesday and didn’t see anything unusual looming.

When I looked up on Wednesday, all I saw was rain.

And as this week progressed I kept wondering if the profound and stunning collapse of the defense last January at the playoffs in Baltimore wasn’t at least as big of a story, if not bigger, than the ongoing quarterback intrigue moving forward.

The body of work on defense during the 2024 regular season was what you’d expect from the Steelers. They were sixth in rushing defense and 12th in total defense. They were 13th in red zone defense and second in third-down defense. They were No. 1 in takeaways (tied with the Vikings) and they were No. 8 in scoring defense.

At no point were they confused with the storied ’85 Chicago Bears team, but they were more than respectable.

What’s more, they went to Baltimore on Jan. 11 with a history of frustrating Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and at least containing Ravens running back Derrick Henry.

But they still got steamrolled right out of the postseason.

The defense wasn’t just bad in a 28-14 loss that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated — it was unrecognizable.

As it turns out, there were extenuating circumstances that day for at least one of the Steelers’ defenders.

“I think it was food poisoning,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen recalled this week. “I woke up that morning throwing up my life away. Man, I was freakin’ sick. I woke up that morning, felt bad and was trying to get IVs and stuff. I was at the stadium, couldn’t even warm up, just was pumping IVs and stuff trying to get ready for the game.

“I remember bits and parts of the game,” he continues. “I just remember them running the ball a whole bunch and us not stopping it.”

Wonder what was wrong with the other 10 players who weren’t tackling Jackson or Henry?

The Steelers were excoriated, and justifiably so, by color analyst Kirk Herbstreit on the television broadcast.

They looked like a team that didn’t trust the game plan, didn’t think they could win and was more interested in making business decisions than at least going down swinging.

We’re still waiting on answers for all of that, and still will be even after Rodgers arrives.

“It’s playoff football, it happens,” Queen added. “Some teams show up, some teams don’t, and we didn’t show up defensively that game.”

Adding insult to embarrassment were comments eventually made by Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey on his “Punch Line” podcast.

“I feel like there’s an underlying thing somewhere internally … I know something that I ain’t gonna say,” Humphrey commented.

Queen, who played for the Ravens before signing with the Steelers, wasn’t aware of his former teammate’s assessment when questioned about it on Tuesday.

“I’ll ask him about that,” Queen replied.

That’s an answer that ought to have Steeler Nation waiting and wondering with at least as much angst as it has been applying to the Rodgers saga.

The latter will resolve itself eventually.

Rodgers will show up, and if he doesn’t they’ll turn to Mason Rudolph.

As for whether the defense will show up when the Steelers really need it to, that’s a question that’ll loom over this team until if and when the Steelers make it back to the playoffs.

The January collapse at M&T Bank Stadium was as inexplicable as it was unanticipated.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t happen again.

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.