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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth is a holdover from Mike Tomlin’s staff. A former Green Bay QB for a short time during Mike McCarthy’s first year coaching the Packers, Arth has a background with Tomlin’s replacement. And with current Steelers starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Arth has one of the most important jobs on the staff right now. He’s the hands-on guy, molding two young signal callers in Will Howard and Drew Allar. They will be the most-watched players in the preseason. It starts Thursday as both players will take the field as Steelers for the first time against the Packers. In our latest “Camp Conversation,” Arth tells us about their development, his observations of Rodgers in his second year with the Steelers, Mason Rudolph’s improvement and his decision to embrace McCarthy’s “early riser” mentality. • Mike McCarthy says he gets to work at 5 a.m., and you are always in before him. Why do you get in that early?: “I am much better and have much more focus in the morning than I do in the late evening. I’ve always been an early riser. I like to get in early before most people are in. It’s just a nice opportunity to make sure that I have at least two to 2½ hours of focused and uninterrupted work. It’s really important for me to get a lot done in that time. You never know how the day is going to go. Our days are so busy; getting in early ensures that I can get some work done.” • What’s it like working with Aaron Rodgers this year, with Mike McCarthy as the head coach, as opposed to working with him last year under the previous staff?: “Not too much is different. I think it’s just the relationship that Aaron and (McCarthy) have — how far back that goes, how deep that is, the amount of games that they’ve been in together and the success that they’ve had together. It does a lot for our entire team. I think that relationship between the head coach and the quarterback is as important as any relationship in football. When you have two people with that type of history that have been in the fire together and been in those moments, I think it just helps bring your entire team together. Aaron and Coach have helped do that.” • What are you noticing in camp so far from Will Howard and Drew Allar?: “Will and Drew are both really exciting young players. The most important thing is they’re both really intelligent. They process a lot of information. They’re able to apply what they learn in the meeting room, what they see on film and come out here and put it into practice, which is really encouraging. From a fundamental standpoint, it all starts from the ground up — their feet. Making sure that their cleats are in the ground. Making sure that they’re playing with a good base, generating power from the ground has been a really big focus for us.” • What steps has Allar taken?: “The footwork. He’s found a really great rhythm in his drop. I think he’s trusting his feet. He’s playing on time. He’s playing in balance. Those were really the biggest areas of focus for us. After we drafted him, that was really the emphasis that we made to say, ‘Let’s really help Drew from a fundamental standpoint, starting with his feet.’ If we can do that, I think we’ve got a pretty good player.” • What did you tell McCarthy about Mason (Rudolph) coming into this camp, and what’s Mason shown to McCarthy?: “Mason has done an awesome job for us. This is his ninth year. Going through our offseason program in the quarterback school as a nine-year vet, you (wonder), ‘How receptive is Mason going to be to some of this? Footwork, adjusting some things.’ He’s been unbelievable. He’s been so receptive and really diligent in the way that he’s worked at everything that we’ve asked of him. And he’s playing as well as I’ve seen him play.” • Where has he gotten better?: “Really, all areas. I think fundamentally. I think processing. He’s playing faster. I think he understands the time clock and how his footwork relates to the pass concepts. He’s trusting his feet. He’s working through progressions and certainly playing faster than I’ve seen him play in the past. He’s performed very well. He’s having an outstanding camp. He had an outstanding offseason. We expect him to continue to grow in that way.” • Rodgers admitted that he was being intentional last year in camp about pumping the ball to DK Metcalf early on to build that relationship. It seems like this year that’s still present.: “I remember early on in camp last year, a lot of near misses. Just getting on the same page. This year, I feel like from practice No. 1 through this point, those two have been connected really well. That’s where it all starts for us from a passing game standpoint, making sure that two are connected.” • There are also a ton of throws from Rodgers to Roman Wilson. Is that on purpose from Rodgers to get Wilson involved or is he just getting that open that often in camp?: “Roman has certainly stepped up in a really big way. Always felt that he had a lot of potential and ability. He’s really just getting a great opportunity now. He’s making the most of it. He’s making a lot of plays out here. He’s building that trust and that camaraderie with Aaron, which is important. He can run. He is really, really fast. He can win on routes. He can run by you. He’s had an outstanding camp. It’s been really good to see.”