Mike McCarthy said DK Metcalf has been incredible in training camp, and Aaron Rodgers went even further, saying the receiver has looked unbelievable. The praise landed on Thursday, with the Steelers coach saying the connection between Rodgers and Metcalf is top-notch and pointing to three special plays Metcalf made in Wednesday’s work.
That kind of talk matters now because the Pittsburgh Steelers are counting on Metcalf to drive their passing game, and they open the season Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons at Acrisure Stadium. Rodgers said the pass game starts with Metcalf and called him the team’s No. 1 for a reason, a view that matches how the club is leaning on him after a first season in which he caught 59 passes but finished with a career-low 850 receiving yards.
Metcalf said he and Rodgers are further ahead than they were at this point last summer, when the two were still building the basics of how they wanted to work together. He said they know how to communicate with each other and watch film, and that he is open to taking criticism from Rodgers, which is the sort of detail that tends to matter once the games start counting.
There is still a catch in the picture. Metcalf did not play in any of the three preseason games this summer, and he missed practice time last month with an undisclosed injury. He also missed the final two games of last season after a suspension tied to a confrontation with a spectator in Detroit, so the Steelers have not seen a completely clean run from their top target for some time.
Even so, McCarthy sounded like a coach who has seen enough to trust what comes next. He said he has been super, super impressed with Metcalf, and added that he did not realize how much flexibility the receiver gives the offense. If Metcalf carries that camp form into Sunday, Pittsburgh’s first pass offense of the season may already have its center of gravity.
