Steelers-Jets opener: How Justin Fields handled the revenge storyline
The Jets quarterback faces his former team and Aaron Rodgers in Week 1 but keeps his cool.
The 2025 NFL season gets underway on Thursday, September 4, bringing an end to a long seven-month wait for competitive football. The Eagles host the Cowboys in this year’s big kickoff, although opening weekend, as ever, will be filled with new - and some ongoing - narratives.
Fields and Rodgers face their former teams
A quirk of the schedule comes in the New York Jets’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, September 7. The clash at MetLife Stadium will see the two starting quarterbacks face their former teams, with the Jets’ Justin Fields and Aaron Rodgers of the Steelers going up against the franchises they left earlier this year.
Rodgers, forever associated with the Green Bay Packers, spent two years in New York, while Fields was with Pittsburgh for just one season. That means there may not be too much sentimentality when they try to take down their old teams.
Fields downplays Week 1 storyline
That certainly appears to be the case for Fields, who looked unbothered about the prospect of facing his former employers when speaking to the media this week.
“There’s no storyline for me,” Fields said when asked whether he and Rodgers would be the central characters in a dual-revenge game. “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.”
The 26-year-old did, however, admit he could see why the question was raised from a fan point of view. “The storyline is crazy. I mean, that’s why the NFL set us up for Week 1, just for that.”
Jets turn to Fields as new leader
Fields will be keen to establish himself as the Jets’ undisputed starting quarterback after spending last season as the backup to Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh. The 2021 first-round draft pick started just six games (going 4-2) while filling in for an injured Wilson.
He was confirmed as New York’s starter for 2025 by General Manager Darren Mougey in March, two weeks after signing a two-year, $40 million contract.
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