PITTSBURGH — Ben Skowronek doesn't even knock anymore. And really, that's the way Aaron Rodgers wants it.

Every night after practice, he has an open-door policy to his suite at Saint Vincent College. Any player or coach can walk in and make suggestions, get clarifications on plays or how routes should be run or just shoot the breeze.

"I think that's an important part of it," Rodgers said Wednesday afternoon. "There's no dictatorship here. We want to talk about all the issues, whether it's in a text message or coming into my room. I don't want anything to be left unsaid. It's been a good process for us."

Skowronek might be the most frequent guest, but Rodgers welcomes anyone and everyone. DK Metcalf is his suitemate and another frequent visitor. But whether you're the No. 1 receiver or a player deep on the depth chart, Rodgers enjoys hearing from all on the offense and their roles within it.

After he takes it all in, Rodgers brings all the suggestions to offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. On Tuesday night, Rodgers and Smith spent 2 1/2 hours talking football.

It's one of the reasons coach Mike Tomlin loves having training camp at an isolated site. It's where many of the season's most important conversations take place.

"It's not all X's and O's," Rodgers said. "It's storytelling from time to time, but he's not a rigid guy at all. Any ideas I have or the receivers have, he really appreciates it. We've installed stuff I've looked at or other guys have had similar ideas. I have an open forum in my room. Anytime you want to come in and suggest something, let me know and I'll take it right to Art. It's been a lot of fun so far."

The relationship with Smith has been one of Rodgers' favorite aspects of training camp. Smith is allowing Rodgers to have some ownership of the offense. When the team gets together to watch film of practice, Rodgers will sometimes take on the role of assistant coach and lead the film study.

"Art has been good enough to take some time in the meetings to let me go through the film with the guys," Rodgers said. "As parents, sometimes you tell your kid a bunch of stuff and they only get it when someone else says it. I say this all the time. The positions coaches tell them the right things, but it might not be until they hear it from me that it kicks in. It's good for me to speak up from time to time."

Those late-night discussions have begun to bear fruit. The offense had its best practice of training camp on Tuesday. Rodgers and his receivers are starting to get on the same page. The linemen are starting to block better, and the running backs are starting to break some longer runs.

One week ago, Rodgers admitted the offensive picture was "fuzzy." In the span of seven days, it's become a lot clearer.

"The plays are rolling off good, and I feel good about the offense — much better than last week," he said.

Rodgers does not believe he will play in Saturday's preseason opener in Jacksonville. He said he'll discuss that with Tomlin soon.

Truth be told, Rodgers isn't big on playing in preseason games. He said he gets more out of competing against other teams in joint practices.

The Steelers will hold a joint practice with the Buccaneers next Thursday before they play a preseason game at Acrisure Stadium.

"With all due respect, preseason football is not necessarily real football because the defenses don't do a whole lot," Rodgers said. "The offenses don't, either. You go out there with a very limited playbook against a defense that's playing one-high zone or one-high man or two-high zone. There's not much pressure. Oftentimes there's communication between the coaches. It's really about the operation. That's where you can actually gain from the preseason is you have 40 seconds to call the play and get to the line of scrimmage. There is something to be gained from that, but there's less schematic stuff than what you'll see during the regular season."

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