EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers jogged through the MetLife Stadium tunnel two years ago, American flag in hand and pumped-up New York Jets fans celebrating their quarterback's Big Apple debut.
Moments later, the excitement turned to numbness when Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles tendon — dashing the Jets' Super Bowl hopes in the process.
Rodgers is back, this time in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform, and he'll come out in the opponents' tunnel Sunday for this season opener. And a lot of the cheers from Jets fans the past two seasons might be replaced by some boos.
“I'll just be excited for Week 1,” Rodgers said, downplaying how thinks he'll feel.
Rodgers is the headliner in the matchup, and for good reason. After all, his trade to the Jets during the offseason in 2023 made them instant championship contenders and a constant topic of conversation. His injury, subpar performance in his return last season and subsequent release by New York's new regime this past offseason make for a juicy storyline.
Both sides have opted to keep the “revenge” angle to a minimum, though, with Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner — one of Rodgers' buddies with the Jets — insisting: “I’m just preparing like any other game.”
But Steelers-Jets in Week 1 has some other notable returns:
— New York quarterback Justin Fields is facing the team he led to a 4-2 start last season before he was sent to the sideline when Russell Wilson recovered from an injury. Fields signed in the offseason with the Jets, his third team in as many seasons.
— Jets coach Aaron Glenn played eight of his 15 NFL seasons with the franchise and has focused on changing the culture and attitude — “We're the freakin' New York Jets, we're built for this,” he said in his introductory news conference in January — since being hired by his old team.
— New York edge rusher Jermaine Johnson is also back after tearing his right Achilles tendon in Week 2 last season and leaning at times on Rodgers to help him through his long rehabilitation.
But all eyes will be on the 41-year-old quarterback — from the moment he takes the field in warmups to his first snap in a game in Steelers' black and gold.
“I'm sure he's capable of compartmentalizing that,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said of Rodgers. “If it means anything to him more than a normal game, (he) probably wouldn't tell you. We are going to go play football.”
The game marks the first time in NFL history that quarterbacks in Week 1 on both sides are facing the teams for which they started the season opener the previous year.
Rodgers and Fields are the seventh and eighth quarterbacks overall to do so, according to Sportradar.
Fields also could become the first quarterback to win a season opener for a team in one season — Pittsburgh beat Atlanta 18-10 last year — and then beat that same team in the opener the next.
“Cool, calm and collected,” Fields said. “It’s another game, to be honest with you.”
It's not lost on Johnson that his next sack in his comeback from his torn Achilles tendon could come against Rodgers in Week 1.
“I’m not going to sit here and be naive,” Johnson said with a smile. “The initial thing was like, wow, that’s crazy. You can’t even write that. But honestly, like, that's how I am: I have a job to do for this team. Obviously, I am going to joke around with him after the game, you know, ‘Hey, I put you down.’
"Because one of the first things I said to Aaron when he got here is: ‘I’m happy you’re here. I’m just mad I’ll never be able to sack you.’ So, yeah, I’m excited.”
Jaylen Warren’s journey from undrafted rookie free agent to starting NFL running back is complete. The fourth-year pro will make the first start of his career against New York after spending the last three seasons as an effective and speedy “yin” to Najee Harris’ more plodding “yang.”
The Steelers rewarded Warren with a three-year contract extension this week, yet the 26-year-old doesn’t exactly think he’s arrived.
“It’s not going to take the chip off my shoulder,” Warren said. “If anything, it’s going to add more chips.”
The offense isn’t the only side of the ball to which Pittsburgh gave a face-lift during a busy offseason. The Steelers also overhauled their secondary.
Minkah Fitzpatrick and Donte Jackson are gone, replaced by Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay and Juan Thornhill.
The Steelers experimented with moving the physical, versatile Ramsey all over the field during training camp, though Ramsey has made it clear he wants to be tasked with taking on the top opposing wideout each week. This week, that would be the Jets' Garrett Wilson.
It’s a role Slay held earlier in his career and holdover Joey Porter Jr. did almost by default last season. Yet there doesn’t appear to be any concerns about anyone’s feelings getting hurt while defensive coordinator Teryl Austin figures out who goes where.
“Slay does not have an ego when it comes to that,” Slay said with a laugh. “Even though I can compete at a very, very high level ... I have no shame in my game in letting one of them young guys go out there to be the man.”
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AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
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