Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields both will face their former teams from the previous season in Week 1. That is rare, but just how rare?
It turns out that this has never happened before in NFL history according to Elias Sports Bureau. This will be the first time in NFL history that both quarterbacks will be facing the team they started for a season ago in Week 1.
Fields himself can make some NFL history, too, but he has to knock off the Steelers to get there. If Fields can defeat the Steelers, he will be the first quarterback in NFL history to start for one team and get a win only to defeat the same team in Week 1 the next year.
Both the Steelers and Jets have talked down the matchup, not wanting to give the other side any bulletin board material they might see.
“I’m not going to sit here and answer questions on what I saw back then. It’s not relevant to right now,” Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said.
Rodgers is not holding any grudge against the Jets, instead focusing on the game as just one of the 17 on the regular season schedule.
“Probably nowhere near where it might be made out,” Rodgers said to Adam Schein on Mad Dog Radio. “A lot has changed over there, coaching staff-wise, player-wise. Obviously, I have friendships over there, but it’s one game out of 17, and at 5 o’clock Eastern on that Sunday, it’s only going to be on to the next game. So that’s just the way it is.”
Reflecting on his tenure there, Rodgers notes that he wishes things ended better between himself and Gang Green, but at this point, it was better for both sides to move on and focus on the present.
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