The Week 1 matchup between the Jets and Steelers on Sunday afternoon ought to be referred to as the Revenge Bowl.
Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Glenn and Justin Fields will all be searching for some measure of revenge within the season opener though none of them had been keen to speak about it this week.
“I’ll just be excited for week one,” Rodgers stated when he was requested concerning the significance of his return to MetLife Stadium on Wednesday.
Glenn and Jets common supervisor Darren Mougey determined to launch Rodgers shortly after they had been employed.
When he was requested this week about what he noticed from Rodgers on movie final yr when he was with the Jets, Glenn wasn’t fascinated by answering the query.
“That’s been gone,” Glenn stated. “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. I’m not going to sit here and answer questions on what I saw back then. It’s not relevant to right now.”
Don’t let their coyness idiot you. Week 1 is massive for Rodgers, Glenn and Fields.
Rodgers, the four-time NFL MVP, was launched for the primary time in his profession in March. In 2023, the Jets made the blockbuster commerce for Rodgers, hoping he was the lacking piece of the puzzle to pair with their elite protection. Nonetheless, after a catastrophic two seasons that started with an Achilles tear within the 2023 opener and ended with a disjointed 5-12 season, wherein each their coach, Robert Saleh, and common supervisor, Joe Douglas, had been fired, Rodgers was gone.
Rodgers stated his objective was to convey one other Lombardi Trophy to the Jets group. As an alternative, he was flown out from his California residence to New Jersey simply to be instructed he was being fired and could be launched forward of the brand new league yr. Throughout an look on “The Pat McAfee Show” in April, Rodgers stated Glenn appeared involved that his presence on the Jets roster would undermine his authority. Rodgers additionally stated Glenn failed to point out him the “ample respect” throughout their Feb. 6 assembly.
Finally, Rodgers landed with the Steelers after signing a one-year, $13.65 million contract earlier than the staff’s minicamp in June. Now, Rodgers has an opportunity for revenge towards the person who handed him a pink slip, reportedly one minute into their conversion in Florham Park.
“I guess for us, it is not paying too much attention to that and just focusing on the game plan and executing the plan. It is going to be crazy for sure, but it is going to be exciting.”
Sunday is equally as essential for Glenn as a result of he’s teaching in his first NFL sport in cost after climbing the teaching ranks, together with his three seasons in Detroit as defensive coordinator of the Lions. His job is to show the Jets from a perennial dropping group that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010 into winners.
To assist with that, Glenn desires to vary Gang Inexperienced’s tradition by upping their stage of physicality and mentality. He desires to construct the Jets right into a bully who punches groups within the mouth.
Certainly one of Glenn’s first selections as coach was to launch Rodgers, which wasn’t fashionable with a phase of Jets followers who thought the longer term Corridor of Famer nonetheless gave the staff one of the best probability to win. Then the Jets signed Fields to a two-year, $40 million deal. Nonetheless, to at the present time, Glenn has by no means given a particular cause for releasing Rodgers, however he did say throughout the spring that it had nothing to do together with his headline-dominating persona.
After two years of Rodgers buzz, Glenn has constructed the tradition in a far totally different means. He’s a believer in “moving in silence.” A lot in order that a few of the gamers contained in the locker room had been reluctant to debate Rodgers this week.
Now, he’s giving the keys to Fields for at the least one season to show that he might be the franchise quarterback many anticipated him to be when he was drafted by the Bears in 2021. All through the spring, coaching camp and now getting into the common season, Glenn has expressed his confidence in Fields. He believes the connection between a coach and a quarterback is crucial to the success of a staff.
“I do believe that the head coach-quarterback relationship has to be on point,” Glenn stated. “I do consider that, since you need to be wired a sure means so far as the way you assume the sport ought to be going, particularly in sport administration conditions.
“You have to be on the same page. There’s a number of coaches, like I don’t know if [Bill] Belichick and [Tom] Brady, I don’t know if he was an extension, but the thing is they understood each other, and to me, I think more into that aspect than anything else.”
Fields also can have a little bit of a redemption story with a victory towards the Steelers.
After a disappointing three seasons with the Bears, Fields was traded to the Steelers final yr to be Russell Wilson’s backup. He ultimately began in six video games, profitable 4 of them, however Pittsburgh nonetheless determined to begin Wilson after he was totally wholesome.
Fields understands the stakes this season. He has been criticized for holding onto the ball too lengthy and for his lack of accuracy. In 50 profession video games, Fields has thrown for 7,780 yards, 45 touchdowns and 31 interceptions with a 61.1 completion share.
Glenn and the Jets are hoping Fields’ mobility can unlock a speeding assault that completed final in makes an attempt and subsequent to final in speeding yards per sport final season.
Very similar to Rodgers and Glenn, Fields has been coy about enjoying towards his former staff, however one of the best revenge is having huge success.
“Like I told you guys before, I’m a big believer in everything happens for a reason,” Fields stated. “Like I said, I was in a spot last year where I was able to see the game from a different perspective. I learned a lot from, you know, Russ [Russell Wilson] and all the other vets there.”
