Aaron Rodgers Says He Has to Do 'Better Job' of Telling Steelers' Mike McCarthy What Isn't Working

Aaron Rodgers told reporters following Sunday's 20-3 loss against the New England Patriots that he needs to do a better job communicating to head coach Mike McCarthy which plays and schemes aren't working.

"Can't feel sorry for ourselves. Can't point fingers. We've all got to play better," he noted. "I think we can all give a little more. The best teams are player-led teams. We've got to keep taking the ownership. In a game like today where there wasn't a lot of flow to it, we need to be better, and that starts with me at making sure Mike knows what's working, what's not working, our coaches know, so we can call stuff that we feel like has a better chance.

Rodgers did suggest that play-calling wasn't the team's issue on Sunday, though he seemed to hint that perhaps the game plan was a bit bloated.

"It's not that big of a sample size, but I thought we didn't execute very well at all," he told reporters. "The plays were fine. We had opportunities, and we've got to dig into the details on some of this stuff. If there's too much stuff in the plan, we've got to cut it back. I always like to push the envelope. If I see guys doing it the right way in practice, then I feel good about it, but we've got to practice the practice to the game, obviously, and all the details that come with it."

Rodgers was pretty pedestrian himself, finishing Sunday's loss 23-of-39 with no touchdowns, an interception and four sacks taken. He also fumbled twice and lost one and the Steelers managed just 235 yards of total offense and were a woeful 2-of-12 on third downs.

Rodgers was a bit better in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, throwing for 221 yards and a touchdown without any turnovers during the 20-13 win. New England's defense provided a much stiffer challenge, however.

"Offensively, clearly not good enough," McCarthy said of the offense after two weeks. "That starts with me. Felt it in practice frankly, coming off of last week. As I stated, I felt we were real herky-jerky trying to get in the run and pass. The extra time that you put forth, what you're expecting in a game and you don't deliver, it just tells you you need to spend more time on it. What I'm referring to is we put a lot of time and energy into the protection component of how we felt today's game was going to go. Expected pressure, got pressure. As an offensive coach, I always welcome the opportunity to play against pressure defense. I think it's clearly an opportunity for big play potential. That was not the case today. We didn't answer the bell. Our protections weren't clean. We had opportunities, whether it was communication and breakdowns, clearly in the first half that took away some opportunities for big plays. The run game was a little bit herky-jerky."

Being without wideout Michael Pittman Jr. didn't help, though the Patriots generated enough pressure to keep Rodgers uncomfortable regardless.

Pittsburgh's offense wasn't great last year either, and the limitations of fielding a 42-year-old quarterback are impossible to ignore. The Patriots certainly exposed a number of the Steelers' offensive weaknesses on Sunday.