With the Baltimore Ravens struggling out of the gate to start this 2025 NFL season, the Cincinnati Bengals once again losing Joe Burrow to an injury, and the Cleveland Browns being—well, the Cleveland Browns—the Pittsburgh Steelers were once in clear control of the AFC North.
But now, after dropping three of their last four and five of their last seven, including a loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, the Steelers find themselves tied with the Ravens at 6-6 heading into a high-profile showdown with Baltimore this Sunday. Pittsburgh's latest defeat was particularly painful, as Mike Tomlin & Co. played one of their sloppiest games of the season in a 26-7 defeat to the Buffalo Bills. And Aaron Rodgers certainly wasn't happy about it.
After missing the Steelers' Week 12 matchup with the Chicago Bears after suffering multiple fractures in his left wrist the week before in a win over the Bengals, the longtim Packers quarterback returned to the field on Sunday and connected on just 10 of his 21 passes for 117 yards, marking the lowest completion total of his entire career when throwing the ball at least 20 times.
Aaron Rodgers calls out Steelers teammates, and it's a painfully familiar story
In his postgame press conference, Rodgers, who briefly left the game after being bloodied on a big hit to the head, was asked about his lackluster performance and proceeded to put some of the blame on his teammates, specifically calling out tight end Jonnu Smith.
"When there's film sessions, everybody shows up," Rodgers said with a little smirk. "And when I check to a route, you do the right route. Jonnu and I just weren't on the same page. I checked to his in-breaker, and he ran an out-breaker."
To be fair, he went on to call Smith a "true professional," and to his credit, he put plenty of blame on himself as well, as he's keenly aware that he needs to be better.
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But Rodgers was obviously implying that some of his pass-catchers haven't been attending film sessions, which is why they're apparently running the wrong routes. That's typically something you keep behind closed doors, but the four-time NFL MVP has never had any problem taking such matters public or calling out his teammates in pressers.
This happened several times during his 15-year run in Green Bay, including during his final season in 2022 when he stated that players "who are making too many mistakes shouldn't be playing," and that Matt LaFleur should start "cutting some reps."
And just last year, during his second and final season with the New York Jets, Rodgers called out receiver Mike Williams for running the wrong route on a pass that ultimately resulted in an interception in a Week 6 loss to, oddly enough, the Bills. Williams was traded a few weeks later, oddly enough, to the Steelers.
It'll certainly be interesting to see what Rodgers has to say if Pittsburgh takes a bad loss to Baltimore this weekend.