Aaron Rodgers turned back the clock Sunday in his Steelers debut, a four-touchdown performance in a 34-32 win over his former Jets team.
Although the outing left Steelers great Ben Roethlisberger feeling “very encouraged” by what he saw from Rodgers, the hits the 41-year-old quarterback took turned his stomach.
“The positive that I saw was Aaron Rodgers threw the ball. Listen, his arm works just fine. He can throw the ball all over the place, down the field, short passes, screens, spread the ball around,” Roethlisberger began Tuesday on his “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast.
“The only thing — there were four sacks. None of those that I saw were Aaron’s fault. There were times when he came up with play fake and there was a guy in his face, maybe some coverage stuff, but it wasn’t anything like he’s just back there holding the ball forever. So, I’m very encouraged by the way Aaron played. My concern is going to be, moving forward, can Aaron take a beating like that every week? Not at that age because some of those, even when he didn’t get sacked, he got hit so hard, he came off the ground, and he’s forty-something, and that’s not good.”
Rodgers took four sacks in his return to MetLife Stadium, while also throwing for 244 yards to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 start to the season.
The former MVP, who joined the Steelers on a one-year deal this offseason, relished the victory after a contentious split from the Jets earlier this year.
“I was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets,” Rodgers said.
“… There were probably people in the organization that didn’t think I could play anymore. It was nice to remind those people that I still can.”
Rodgers arrived in New York to much fanfare in 2023, but suffered a season-ending Achilles injury just four plays into his Jets career.
He went 5-12 with the team last year, in which coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas were fired midway through, and was shown the door by the new regime of coach Aaron Glenn and GM Darren Mougey.
Roethlisberger, who spent 18 seasons in Pittbsburgh and won two Super Bowls, implored the protection around Rodgers to improve if they wish to have him available all season and contend for a championship.
“It makes me nervous, the rushing game and the sack game,” he said. “… If that doesn’t improve, we’re not going to have a quarterback very long and it’s going to be a rough season.”
The Steelers host the Seahawks (0-1) in their home opener Sunday at 1 p.m.