LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers is still feeling things out in Pittsburgh, in more ways than one.
The NFL's oldest player, who wrapped up his initial (and likely only) training camp with the Steelers at Saint Vincent College on Tuesday, is still searching for the right helmet.
The league banned the helmet Rodgers has long preferred because it didn't meet certain safety standards. He's not exactly enthralled with the replacement he's been using.
“I’m trying to change (it),” Rodgers told reporters. “We’re in the process still. It looks like a damn spaceship out there. We’ve got to change it.”
The 41-year-old pointed out that the facemask he has used in the past, which he's still trying to use now, doesn't fit.
“It an old facemask, just like I'm old,” Rodgers said. “But we're trying to find the right helmet now.”
Rodgers will have to get comfortable being a little uncomfortable until the team figures out a solution. He — and his current helmet — could get meaningful reps against another club for the first time on Thursday when the Steelers and Tampa Bay hold a joint practice ahead of the Buccaneers' visit to Acrisure Stadium on Saturday.
While it's unclear whether Rodgers will play in either of Pittsburgh's two remaining preseason games, he is eager to get behind center against Tampa Bay.
“It’s good to go against a different team (because) ... you get a chance to go against not-vanilla defenses," he said. “So hopefully (Tampa Bay coach) Todd (Bowles), he probably won’t show everything, but he’ll do some stuff to stress our protection and give us a chance to get some film to work on.”
Pittsburgh's offense — without Rodgers, wide receiver DK Metcalf or running back Jaylen Warren — put up 31 points last weekend in an exhibition victory over Jacksonville. Rodgers praised the efficiency of backup quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. He also got a feel for what the “operation” might look like when he gets on the field.
Rodgers also did his best to be what he called “the voice of reason" on the headset.
“Sometimes people freak out on there and start yelling and screaming,” the four-time NFL MVP said, with more than a hint of his dry humor. “Or other times, people are talking that shouldn’t be talking. But I’m more of the comic relief on there.”
All kidding aside, Rodgers believes the offense has made some progress since the rocky opening days of camp. Perhaps just as importantly, he's made it a point to try and get to know his new teammates, some of whom were toddlers (if that) when Rodgers entered the league 20 years ago.
That includes popping up in different spots when the team goes out to stretch before practice, which allows him to chat informally
“So many times I feel like the expectation is that leaders have got to be at the front of line,” Rodgers said. “But you know, sometimes to lead properly you have to serve and serving sometimes involves you being at the back.”
It also provides him with a different and welcome perspective on what the vibe might be like on a given day.
“I don’t need to be out front the entire time when I’m here,” he said. “I want to make connections with the guys, and sometimes those guys hanging in the back are hanging in back for a reason. So those are the conversations I want to have.”
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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers talks with wide receiver Ben Skowronek during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, right, calls a play in the huddle during practice at NFL football training camp in Latrobe, Pa., Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) — A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people.
The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.
The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.
There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.
“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”
At the site of Wednesday's train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.
Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.
The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.
Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.
The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.
Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday's accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.
The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building's collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.
Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai's president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand's Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.
Associated Press writers Wasamon Audjarint in Bangkok and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
Relatives of victims and others wait at a hospital, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives wait at a hospital to receive bodies of victims, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Forensic workers inspect the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A cuddly toy lies on the ground at the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
