EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Though he spent the week downplaying the significance of opening the regular season at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets, quarterback Aaron Rodgers acknowledged Sunday the added satisfaction of starting out his Pittsburgh Steelers tenure with a 34-32 win over the team that let him go.
“There were probably people in the organization that didn’t think I could play anymore,” Rodgers, 41, said after the game. “So, it was nice to remind those people that I still can.”
That reminder came in the form of four passing touchdowns and 244 yards as he completed 22 of 30 attempts, including 4 of 5 for 62 yards and a touchdown pass to wide receiver Ben Skowronek on the Steelers’ first drive.
Earlier this year, Rodgers criticized the Jets organization, and specifically new head coach Aaron Glenn, for how they handled his dismissal. On “The Pat McAfee Show” in April, Rodgers said Glenn told him the team was going in a different direction at quarterback “20 seconds in” to their in-person meeting in New Jersey, which Rodgers flew cross-country for on his “own dime.” Asked specifically after Sunday’s win if there was added significance to beating Glenn, Rodgers demurred.
“I was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets,” he said.
Rodgers, who has spoken frequently throughout his career about being motivated by slights and doubters, went to great lengths throughout the week of prep to avoid publicly expressing any negativity toward the Jets after his tumultuous two-year stint. Even after the game, he said the win was special regardless of the opponent.
“I love beating everybody, so it doesn’t matter who it is,” Rodgers said. “I really only played 18 games here, so I was actually talking to Breece [Hall] about that. He said, ‘How’s it feel?’ I said, ‘Honestly, I was here for two years, but it doesn’t come close to how it’s going to feel playing Green Bay because that was 18 years in my career.’ So it was nice to win, especially hearing some of the catcalls out there and the boo birds. I’m not sensitive about that. I expected that. I kind of liked that.”
Coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t surprised by Rodgers’ indifference.
“He doesn’t care,” Tomlin said. “He’s been doing this too long. It was Week 1. It was a lot to be excited about. We got the victory. It’s on to the next one.”
Though the crowd gave Rodgers a mostly hostile welcome, that wasn’t the case for many members of the Jets organization.
After disembarking from the Steelers’ bus at the visiting team entrance just before 10 a.m., Rodgers embraced a stadium security worker after going through the metal detector. A few steps later, he embraced another familiar face in Karan Patel. Once a Jets equipment staffer and now a visiting locker room attendant, Patel regularly threw with Rodgers during his Achilles rehab in 2023. Once he made his way to the turf, Rodgers went through a familiar routine as he threw with Patel for several minutes before pausing to catch up on his life.
“I love KP,” Rodgers said. “Wish the organization would hire him back. He is a character guy, culture guy, great young guy. That was fun to see him. He said, ‘I’m working on the visitor side today.’ I said, ‘Well let’s play a little catch.'”
The reunions didn’t stop there. A steady stream of Jets staffers and players crossed the 50-yard line to greet Rodgers during the warmup period, including quarterback Tyrod Taylor, defensive lineman Quinnen Williams and running back Hall. And the likes of cornerback Sauce Gardner and Quincy Williams also stopped by to wish him well after the game.
“I still have a lot of people that I have fond feelings for, and so pregame I saw a few of the guys,” Rodgers said. “There’s so many guys that I really enjoy there. … So it’s nice to see those guys.”
Though Rodgers’ feelings about the Jets organization in its totality are complicated, his feelings about getting a win are not. And Sunday’s win was one that came down to the wire with a winning franchise record-setting 60-yard field goal by Chris Boswell with less than a minute remaining and a fourth-down stop by defensive back Jalen Ramsey.
Between the opening-drive touchdown, one that marked the Steelers’ first opening-drive touchdown in Week 1 since 2008 against the Houston Texans, and the game-sealing Ramsey tackle, Rodgers threw three more touchdowns with passes to Jonnu Smith, Jaylen Warren and Calvin Austin III. Rodgers’ four total passing touchdowns made him the first player since Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2010 to throw four passing touchdowns against a former team. Rodgers, who threw four touchdowns in his final game with the Jets, is also the first player in NFL history with consecutive four passing touchdown games, each with a different franchise.
Rodgers’ last touchdown pass of the day, an 18-yard connection with Austin, gave the Steelers a 31-26 lead early in the fourth quarter, capitalizing on the forced fumble by Kenneth Gainwell and recovery by Skowronek on kickoff coverage following Rodgers’ 5-yard pass to Warren.
“We just wanted to play for each other, and play for 8,” Austin said, referencing Rodgers’ jersey number. “We go out there, we have full confidence that whatever he’s saying, he’s getting us in the best position to be able to succeed.”
By any measure, Rodgers didn’t succeed with the Jets, and his success with the Steelers is still to be determined over the course of the season. But with a season-opening win in a place he once called home, Rodgers appeared to finally close that chapter of his career.
“I gave as much as I could to the [Jets], and it didn’t work out,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t have any hard feelings about it not working out. Now, I didn’t maybe appreciate the way that it went down in the end, but that’s in the past, and we’re 1-0.
“I just wanted to have fun today. I was dreaming about the opportunity to step back on the field in the offseason and wondering how it would feel and would the juices flow and would it hit my competitive spirit? There were a lot of moments that I was on the sideline, just to myself, thanking my wife and my friends for encouraging me to take time on my decision and that this would be the right decision. So happy to be a Steeler and happy things went the way they did today.”
