Aaron Rodgers dismissed the Week 1 matchup with his former New York Jets club. Likewise, Gang Green quarterback Justin Fields downplayed facing his former Pittsburgh Steelers squad.
"It's no storyline for me," Fields said on Tuesday, via The Associated Press. "It's ball for me. So, I'll let you guys kind of handle the storylines, the news lines and stuff like that. In the locker room, we just keep it straight ball."
Still, Fields admitted that the fact that both quarterbacks switched teams added an interesting twist to the matchup.
"I mean, yeah, the storyline's crazy," Fields said. "I mean, that's why the NFL set us up for Week 1, just for that. But, yeah, it's cool. Cool to kind of see that. And it's gonna be fun going up against these guys on Sunday."
Fields started Weeks 1-6 for the Steelers in 2024, before being benched in favor of Russell Wilson for the remainder of the season. Fields had career highs as a starter in completion percentage (66.3), passing touchdown-to-interception ratio (5-1) and passer rating (93.9). The 93.9 passer rating would be the second-highest by a Jets QB with six-plus starts since 2003 (behind only Josh McCown in 2017, 94.5).
Fields won just one fewer game than Rodgers in 2024 despite starting six games to his 17. Fields had a higher completion percentage (66.3 to 63.0), passing yards per attempt (6.9 to 6.7), TDs per game (1.7 to 1.6), and passer rating as a starter (93.9 to 90.5) than Rodgers in 2024, per NFL Research.
Fields (Chicago) and Rodgers (Green Bay) both played in the NFC North from 2021-22, meeting four times. Rodgers is 4-0 head-to-head against Fields.
Jets new head coach Aaron Glenn brushed aside questions about how the club evaluated Rodgers before moving on with Fields as their starter in 2025.
"That's been gone," Glenn said. "I'm not going to answer questions about guys that aren't here and what I saw. Right now, I'm looking at what our guys can do."
Glenn wasn't going to get baited into answering when queried about what he has seen on film while scouting Rodgers for Sunday's matchup.
"Just like I said, I'm not going to sit here and answer questions on what I saw back then," Glenn said. "It's not relevant to right now."
It will be relevant Sunday afternoon, however.
