Just as he did ahead of the season opener against the New York Jets, Aaron Rodgers is downplaying facing his former team. Poised to face the Green Bay Packers for the first time in his career, Rodgers is showing the Packers’ organization a lot more love than he did the Jets. With good reason. But Rodgers’ mindset of the media-labeled “revenge game” is the same.
Sunday night isn’t about that, as noted by the PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo following Rodgers’ Wednesday meeting with the media.
Aaron Rodgers said he has no animosity toward the Packers. He said this is not a revenge game for him in any way.
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) October 22, 2025
Green Bay is where Rodgers’ career will be remembered. The team that stopped his draft day fall. The team that entrusted him to succeed Brett Favre, large shoes to fill that Rodgers eventually did. The team he won four MVPs and a Super Bowl with. Though things soured in the end leading to a trade ahead of the 2023 season, Rodgers got to live out a football career very few get to do.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” Rodgers told reporters, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Aaron Rodgers says he doesn’t have any “animosity” toward Green Bay.
I asked if those feelings had evolved over the years to get to this place.
He said, in part: “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) October 22, 2025
Rodgers has also done well to tamp down on the media’s natural storylines. To avoid any bulletin board material or headline that would take away from the Steelers’ goal of winning the game. It’s a track he’s followed all year. Rarely has he made any media waves and he’s reduced his media footprint. He stopped weekly appearances on the Pat McAfee Show and was last interviewed during training camp. He’s spent more time off the field with teammates than he has going on podcasts, something he did regularly before officially signing a one-year deal with the Steelers in June.
No matter the motivation, Rodgers and Pittsburgh are in need of a win this weekend. To beat the NFC’s No. 1 seed and top contender. To avoid a losing streak. To secure a home primetime victory. Bouncing back against Green Bay would be a statement victory to calm the collective nervousness.
With a win, Rodgers would also place himself into a rare piece of history, becoming one of just a handful of quarterbacks to defeat all 32 franchises. Something that doesn’t happen unless you face your original team. And something Rodgers may only get one chance at in his entire career.
Recommended for you