What Aaron Rodgers is telling Steelers teammates about 'revenge' storyline for Jets game

Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Broderick Jones recently insisted that quarterback Aaron Rodgers won't be looking for any revenge when Pittsburgh opens the season with a matchup at the New York Jets, Rodgers' former team, this coming Sunday. 

While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth expanded on what Rodgers has and hasn't said about facing the team that unceremoniously showed him the door this past winter. 

Just another game?

"He makes it seem like it's just another game, and I think that's cool for us, being able to just put it in our minds that it's another game," Freiermuth said about Rodgers' mindset, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "Obviously ,we want to go out there and win it for him, but I don't think he's kind of living off that, that we're going back to his old stomping ground. I think he's just ready to go out there and compete and play."

A Wednesday report shared that Rodgers "frustrated people" within the Jets last season as the club limped to a 5-12 record. Neither first-year New York head coach Aaron Glenn nor new Jets general manager Darren Mougey was with the club when it acquired Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers in the spring of 2023. Rodgers learned during a Feb. 6 meeting that lasted "less than 15 minutes" that the Jets would be officially letting him go when the new league year opened in March. 

The future Hall of Famer essentially missed the entire 2023 season after he suffered a torn Achilles tendon just four offensive snaps into the campaign.

Rodgers signed a team-friendly contract to join the Steelers in June, and he said ahead of Labor Day that this Sunday's contest will be just "one game out of 17." According to Pittsburgh wide receiver DK Metcalf, Rodgers' excitement to start what could be his final season as an active player has nothing to do with the opponent or the fact that the matchup will take place at MetLife Stadium.

Aaron Rodgers has "bad taste left in his mouth"

"I mean, I don't think his former team has anything to do with it," Metcalf added about Rodgers' approach to Sunday's game. "I think he just loves the game of football, and he's ready to go out there and put a product out there on the field. I know it is kind of a bad taste left in his mouth from the previous years. He just wants to go out there and win as many games as he can."

As of Thursday morning, ESPN BET had the Steelers as 2.5-point betting favorites over the Jets. Beating Gang Green wouldn't guarantee Pittsburgh more than a 1-0 record, but it could help Rodgers build some confidence coming off a Jets tenure he's looking to put behind him.