No final revenge game after all.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy announced that Aaron Rodgers will not play in the Week 2 preseason game against the New York Jets. Backup quarterback Mason Rudolph will also not suit up for this game.
“They’re young,” McCarthy said Wednesday in explaining his decision to play [Will] Howard and [Drew] Allar over the veterans via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “Will didn’t get to play last year. … I have some veterans I feel really good about, obviously with Aaron and Mason. I saw what I needed to see from Mason last week. I’ve talked highly about Mason really since the spring. So I really want to max out the opportunities with both Will and Drew. We’ve got two games here, and I want to see those guys play as much as possible, and we’ll continue as we have all camp.”
Rodgers announced before the 2026 season that he intends to retire after this year. The Jets are not scheduled to play the Steelers during the upcoming regular season. So this preseason game appears to be the final time these two teams could clash before Rodgers hangs up his cleats.
The only other possibility, and it’s fair to call this far-fetched, would be the Jets and Steelers potentially meeting in the playoffs. The Jets haven’t been to the playoffs in 15 years, for context.
Not a Lot of Great Feelings Between the Two
I’m not sure Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and Rodgers will be embracing ahead of this matchup on Friday.
The first big move Glenn made when the Jets hired him as the head coach was throwing Rodgers out the door.
The four-time NFL MVP admitted that he felt “disrespected” by that final meeting with Glenn.
Rodgers was the promised prince sent to help the Jets turn the franchise around. However, four snaps into his tenure in 2023, his Achilles exploded.
In retrospect, Rodgers has expressed regret about ever deciding to come to the Jets.
I asked ESPN New York’s Jake Asman on “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital” if he had any regret as a Jets fan about the Rodgers situation.
He didn’t have any regrets about the Jets making the move in the first place; he just expressed sadness about how everything turned out.
Who Will We See on the Jets Side of Things?
Coach Glenn was asked on Wednesday, August 19 if the plan is to play the starters against the Steelers.
“The players are going to play, and then things can change as we get closer to gametime,” Glenn responded.
So they might play or they might not. Thanks for the clarity, coach.
If last week is any indication, the starters will play in this second preseason game. Everyone played last week except Geno Smith with the ankle soreness and any other players who were battling an injury.
If Smith doesn’t get the start, the Jets will hand the keys to rookie quarterback Cade Klubnik. He started the game last week in place of Smith, who was ruled out due to injury.
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