Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers insists he will not be eyeing “revenge” when he lines up against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in his first meeting against his former club since leaving two years ago. Rodgers, 41, spent 18 seasons in Green Bay before a departure that became inevitable after the Packers recruited Jordan Love as his heir apparent in the 2020 draft.
While Rodgers’ exit from Green Bay never approached the levels of acrimony which accompanied predecessor Brett Favre’s departure in 2008, Love’s recruitment did unsettle Rodgers during his final seasons at Lambeau Field. Nevertheless, Rodgers, who has led the Steelers to a 4-2 record this season which has left them on top of the AFC North, says he harbors no ill-feeling towards his former team ahead of their visit to Pittsburgh in a nationally televised Sunday night game.
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“I don’t have any animosity toward the organization,” Rodgers said this week. “Obviously, I wish that things had been better in our last year there, but I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization. This is not a revenge game for me. Have a lot of great memories from my time there. I grew up there. I spent 18 years there from 21 to 39, so I’m thankful for my time there.”
Rodgers though admitted that he realised the clock was ticking on his reign in Green Bay when the team traded up to draft Love, who will face his veteran former team-mate on Sunday. “I knew the writing was on the wall when Jordan was picked,” Rodgers said. “I knew at some point there would be a change, and if I wanted to play, I’d probably have to be elsewhere. So I understand the situation. We live and we learn.”
– ‘Fired up every week’ –
Rodgers, who led Green Bay to a Super Bowl title in 2011 against the Steelers, spent two seasons with the New York Jets before landing in Pittsburgh this season. While his stint at the Jets was largely miserable — injury wiped out virtually the entirety of his first season in New Jersey — he has looked more like his old, gun-slinging self in Pittsburgh, with a 68.6 pass completion rate that has yielded 1,270 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says he has been impressed by Rodgers’s devotion to the sport since his arrival. “I haven’t been with him for a long time, but he’s been fired up every single week,” Tomlin said. “He’s playing, and playing to win. That’s what he does. I’ve been in this thing long enough to know you don’t stumble into 20-plus years of service in this business. It still doesn’t make it less impressive, his day to day, what he’s willing to do.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson could make a return from injury as the Baltimore Ravens look to revive their dismal season against the Chicago Bears. Jackson returned to limited practice this week as he recovers from a hamstring problem and is touch and go to start against the Bears. The Ravens — picked as Super Bowl contenders before the season — are 1-5, and badly need to start picking up wins if they are to enter playoff contention.
Other highlights from week eight’s fixtures will see the in-form Dallas Cowboys (3-3-1) travel to Colorado to face the Denver Broncos (5-2), while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2) take on the New Orleans Saints (1-6) in a divisional battle. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was injured twice by late hits from the Saints in 2023, admitted earlier this year that he “hated” the team from Louisiana. He doubled down on those comments this week ahead of the Bucs visit to the Superdome.
“It hasn’t exactly been clean play from their part when we play them,” Mayfield said. “It’s a physical game, it is what it is. You expect it, division rival. Not much else to say besides the fact that I don’t like them.”
© 2024 AFP
