EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Aaron Rodgers began his day saying hello to old friends from the New York Jets, many of them, notably, from the defense. In his early warmup, he threw to a familiar face -- Karen Patel, who Rodgers used to throw to when he was with the Jets and Patel worked for New York's equipment team. Patel was at MetLife to work the visitors' locker room on Sunday, and Rodgers said he wished the team would rehire him.
Rodgers' path to the visitors' locker room had taken up much of the oxygen of the offseason, from the news that broke on Super Bowl Sunday that the Jets no longer wanted him to the monthslong will-he-or-won't-he vigil that hopscotched across multiple quarterback-desperate teams until he finally landed on Pittsburgh, where he has settled into a comfortable role as elder statesman and, not incidentally, the best quarterback the Steelers have had since Ben Roethlisberger's prime.
It's a fallacy to say that Rodgers did not make any lasting connections with the Jets. He did, and that was obvious Sunday. It is also obvious that, other than a few individuals, he doesn't remember those two years fondly. Neither do Jets fans, for that matter. They had once been smitten, convinced he was the quarterback to finally restore glory. But on Sunday, they booed Rodgers loudly, their loyalty shifted to one of their own -- head coach Aaron Glenn, whose first big decision since becoming the coach was to cut Rodgers loose and who has made making the Jets competitive again something of a personal mission.
Glenn and Rodgers are both highly competitive and not short on self-confidence, and perhaps, they were never destined to see eye to eye. But even after Rodgers produced a four-touchdown performance in his first game for the Steelers -- a 34-32 victory -- after he had been escorted off the field by Mike Tomlin and Cameron Heyward, after the Terrible Towel waving faithful had overwhelmed MetLife Stadium, Rodgers let his pique at Glenn and how his two-year experiment with the Jets had ended show through.
"There are probably people in the organization who didn't think I could play anymore," he said, a likely allusion to Glenn. "It was nice to show that I still can."
And then, when asked if it was especially meaningful to have defeated the man who cut him loose, Rodgers delivered a dagger: "I was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets."
Fair enough. Rodgers, like most professional athletes, professes not to listen to outside noise. And Rodgers, again like most, absolutely does. He noted that he heard the catcalls and the boobirds. Rodgers has never made a secret of being motivated by slights and doubts. So, yes, he and Tomlin can say he was indifferent to the opponent. And then Rodgers put on a clinic, finding a new favorite target in DK Metcalf, managing duress, especially when his offensive line struggled to protect him on play-action passes, and leading drive after drive in a seesaw game. Rodgers is certainly not as mobile as he once was, but he is still creative, and accurate and nimble enough to move out of trouble, still as cool and confident as ever. On Sunday, he was exactly what the Steelers hoped they were getting when they waited for him.
"I just thought he was game all day," Tomlin said. "That's why I was confident."
The Steelers were uncharacteristically active this offseason, importing veterans to try to boost a team that consistently makes the playoffs into one that wins in the playoffs. It is not just Rodgers (22-of-30, 244 yards, four touchdowns), but also Metcalf (four receptions, 83 yards) and Jalen Ramsey, who delivered a booming hit on Jets receiver Garrett Wilson, which dislodged the ball on fourth down as the Jets tried for their own game-winning drive in the waning minute of the game.
Tomlin was delighted by what he called "the new Steelers," but a performance like this, in truth, will only get the Steelers so far and nowhere near as far as they want to go. It was, as Rodgers put it, a "coach's dream journal," a tape that ends in a victory but also contains plenty of things that need to be corrected. The Steelers will need more, particularly from their running game and the defense, which struggled to contain Justin Fields' legs, if they are to make inroads in the AFC. The Jets have further to go, of course, but they are in the middle of a culture change and a reboot, and this game gave them plenty of hope, even if Glenn isn't into moral victories.
The Steelers aren't looking for a culture change. They haven't needed one since the late Dan Rooney identified Chuck Noll as the next head coach. That solid foundation has allowed Rodgers to slip into the franchise, rather than stand astride it as he did the Jets. Freed from that responsibility, and from the recovery from his Achilles tear, Rodgers has been rejuvenated. In training camp, he looked healthier but also happier.
On Sunday, he looked, well, more like himself, and more like what he looked like in those final few games for the Jets last season, when the glimmers of what Rodgers might be able to recapture after his injury first showed through. Fields, for his part, showed why Glenn chose him and why the coach believes Fields will still reach his ceiling with the Jets. The fifth-year passer was confident and capable, throwing downfield and using his legs. He gave the Jets what they hoped to get from their new quarterback, just as Rodgers did for the Steelers.
Maybe Fields will eventually deliver what the Jets had hoped Rodgers would be -- the wins and respect that has long eluded the team. But first, the Jets were on the receiving end of one more subtle zinger from Rodgers. He relayed a pregame conversation he had with Jets running back Breece Hall, who asked Rodgers how it felt to be back and facing his old team. He really only played 18 games here, Rodgers noted, accounting for the season he missed to the injury.
"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," said Rodgers, whose Steelers host the Packers on Oct. 26.
With that, Rodgers brushed off the Jets one last time. Can he dismiss the rest of the AFC with that kind of ease this season? That, after all, is what he was brought to Pittsburgh to do.
