Rodgers Downplays Rematch but Teammates Know It’s Important

by Bo Marchionte
@bomarchionte | College2Pro.com
Published October 22, 2025, 5:39 PM

Aaron Rodgers has played on countless Sunday nights under the brightest lights. This week, though, the setting will carry a unique charge. For the first time since leaving Green Bay, Rodgers will face the franchise where he won four league MVP awards, a Super Bowl, and cemented his legacy as one of the NFL’s all-time greats.

Rodgers insists there’s no bitterness ahead of his reunion with the Packers, telling ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, “I don’t have any animosity toward the organization. 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. I’m just excited to see some of those guys and be on Sunday Night Football again.”

Still, emotions tend to linger. Especially for a competitor who spent 18 seasons in one uniform. The Steelers’ locker room feels that energy even if Rodgers won’t admit it.

Tight end Pat Freiermuth said the team knows how much this one means.

“Yeah, I mean as a main figure in our locker room, you know, you want to get those important games for certain guys,” Freiermuth said. “I mean, obviously, I’m sure he’s downplaying it, but, you know, we all want this for him. We all want to go out there and execute, and we all want to go out there and play our ass off for him. Get back on track. Get back on track. That’s the main thing, is being able to beat the Green Bay Packers and get to want to know this week.”

For the Steelers, that motivation stretches beyond the storyline. After a tough stretch offensively, they see this as a chance to reestablish rhythm and purpose and doing it for Rodgers adds fuel.

“He’s the best man,” Freiermuth continued about Rodgers arrival in Pittsburgh. “He’s just been so good for everyone, and the growth and the development of everyone and just how he holds us all accountable, it’s been awesome.”

That accountability was on display as early as Week 1 when the Steelers opened their season with a statement win in New York.

After that victory, Rodgers didn’t hide the satisfaction of beating his former team’s AFC neighbor, saying he was “happy to beat everyone associated with the Jets.”

Now, with the Packers coming to town, his focus remains the same keep winning, block out noise, and lead. But even inside Pittsburgh’s locker room, players know these moments hit differently.

Linebacker Patrick Queen, who spent his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before joining the Steelers, understands exactly what Rodgers is navigating.

“Yeah. I mean, he hasn’t said anything about it, but you can, you know, pretty much for anybody that leaves a team, and it’s certain kind of level of drama behind it, you know, you can figure they probably have something against that team,” Queen said. “But at the end of the day, we want to get the win. And I think it’d be a little bit sweet.”

Queen, who has already faced his old Ravens teammates this season, knows the emotional roller coaster firsthand. “I think the first one you’re heated in the first one,” he added. “I think after that it’s just business. You understand the size of it, kind of get more level-headed about it and understand there’s certain things that took place that just was unfortunate, and you live and you move on, but then it’s just another team that you play.”

For Rodgers, it may be “just another team,” but there’s no denying that the echoes of Lambeau Field will follow him into Acrisure Stadium. From Brett Favre to Jordan Love, Rodgers’ departure and legacy have been endlessly dissected in Green Bay and this game marks the first time both sides get to look each other in the eye.

Rodgers, now wearing black and gold, has become the tone-setter for a Pittsburgh team trying to find its identity in a competitive AFC. His veteran calm and leadership have already left a mark. “He’s been so good for everyone,” Freiermuth said again with emphasis. “Just how he holds us accountable, it’s been awesome.”

Sunday night’s game won’t define Rodgers’ career he’s already done that in green and gold but it might define something else: how far he’s come since those final days in Green Bay, and how much this new chapter means to the men rallying behind him.

In Pittsburgh, the feeling is mutual they want this one for No. 12.

Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com