Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to make much of facing the Jets in public, but Brandin Echols has no problem doing so himself. Both players came over from the Jets to the Steelers this offseason, the latter as an unrestricted free agent. Although he didn’t experience the unceremonious exit Rodgers did, he’s still eager to play his former team on Sunday.
“I’ve been waiting on this game since they first dropped the schedule,” Echols told Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It’s not the first time he’s expressed that this offseason, but it’s different on the eve of the game.
The Jets selected Brandin Echols in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He started 19 games over four seasons, logging 1,379 defensive snaps and 707 on special teams. Last season, he played 407 snaps on defense, recording two interceptions.
The Steelers signed Echols this offseason to a two-year, $6 million contract; the Jets evidently showed little interest in retaining him. In Pittsburgh, he will be as much a special teamer as a defender, but he is ready for any role. Whatever they ask him to do against the Jets, he will be ready for it.
Not that he has ill will for his former team, but he is content with how things worked out. “I’ve most definitely got some good memories,” Echols told Adamski about his time with the Jets. “It had its ups and downs, but the good outweighed the bad anytime for me.”
Although Echols had a strong summer, the Steelers are deep in the secondary. He is their fourth cornerback and the first off the bench, but they have Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, and Joey Porter Jr. in front of him. While he made Beanie Bishop Jr. and James Pierre expendable, he likely won’t see a ton of snaps.
For what it’s worth, Brandin Echols probably should have more motivation to play the Jets than does Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers already had an 18-year, Hall of Fame career with the Packers before ever playing in New York. His time there is a blip on the radar, but Echols spent his entire career until now with the Jets.
For half of that time with the Jets, Echols was Rodgers’ teammate. Back in mid-March, he was already publicly campaigning to get him to sign with the Steelers. He eventually did, of course, and now they will play their former team.
And their former team now has their current team’s old starting quarterback, Justin Fields. Echols has thoughts about how to defend the new Jets quarterback: make him play quarterback. One of the elite rushing threats at the position, the idea is to make him beat you with his arm. And I’m sure that’s exactly what the Steelers’ plan is going into Sunday’s game.
