Aaron Rodgers will take an NFL field for the first time this year in about a week and a half, as the Steelers visit the New York Jets to open the season. Although he won’t admit it, there may be some extra motivation for Rodgers against his former team. ESPN’s Louis Riddick is expecting Rodgers to have quite the revenge game.
“He looks like the old Aaron Rodgers, from a throwing the football perspective,” Riddick said on Get Up on Tuesday. “No, he’s not the same athlete… But as far as his cerebral capability and his ability to throw the football and lead this offense, I think he’s going to light it up. And I think Pittsburgh, the fans in the surrounding area, and the people nationally who go, ‘man, we don’t need that headache with Aaron Rodgers, why don’t we get him out of here, why did we sign this guy?’. I think you’re gonna be sitting there, saying, Oh, I see why we signed him.”
There are plenty of storylines ahead of this game, with each starting quarterback facing their former team. For Rodgers, there’s a bit more motivation. His two years with the Jets didn’t go well. He spoke about his displeasure earlier this offseason with the way his exit was handled by their new regime.
Aaron Rodgers will have a tough task ahead of him, though. The Jets’ defense has a lot of talent, including Sauce Gardner, who Rodgers knows well and will often be matched up against DK Metcalf. For Rodgers to “light it up” as Riddick predicts, one of Calvin Austin III or Roman Wilson will have to step up. The offensive line will also have to protect Rodgers against a talented front seven.
It might be tough to do, especially with Rodgers not getting any reps in preseason action. Neither did Austin, who’s missed a few weeks with an injury. Wilson looked great in the preseason, but the regular season is a different beast—one in which he has only a few plays of experience.
That said, this is a game the Steelers should win if they truly are contenders. The Jets can and likely will run the ball well. But Pittsburgh’s secondary should have too much talent to struggle with a Justin Fields-led passing attack. If Aaron Rodgers can play as well as Riddick expects him to, the Steelers should walk out of MetLife Stadium with a win.
