Reporting from Florham Park, NJ—Much has been made about the New York Jets opening up the 2025 season with a contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Many analysts believe that the Steelers will be signing Aaron Rodgers, New York’s former starting quarterback, to lead them next season. That makes the 2025 season opener a revenge game for Rodgers against the team that chose to release him during the offseason.
Rodgers won’t be the only one seeking revenge in that potential showdown, though.
The Jets have their own signal-caller looking to prove himself against his former team.
Fields, Jets Deflect Revenge Showdown
Justin Fields has struggled to prove he can be a starting quarterback since being a first-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 2021. He has the worst fourth-quarter completion percentage in the league and is 17-31 as a starter.
There is a reason why the Jets are his third team in as many seasons.
Despite that, Fields enjoyed a successful bounce-back season with the Steelers last year. The Ohio State product went 4-2 as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback before he was benched for Russell Wilson.
Now that he has signed a new contract with the Jets, Fields will get the chance to play against the team that replaced him mid-year early in 2025.
Despite the emotions that could arise, Fields deflected any sense of revenge he had in his mind or heart against the Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin.
“That’s who we play Week One,” Fields said. “It wasn’t really a thought to that.”
When pushed again on Thursday afternoon, the 26-year-old confirmed there were no extra feelings toward his former team.
Feilds’ comments at the Jets OTAs match what many people have said about the quarterback. He looks and acts like a professional despite clearly experiencing struggles early in his NFL career.
His actions also speak louder than anything he could say. Reportedly, the Steelers offered Fields a contract similar to the one the Jets gave him (two years for over $40 million). Fields chose the Jets because they gave him a chance to start without the worry that he would be benched for a veteran later in the year.
That leaves one to believe he could have some feelings toward his former team in wanting to prove to them that he can be a quality starting quarterback in this league.
Would a strong Week 1 performance do that? Absolutely.
Another question to ask is this:
If and when Rodgers decides to become a Steeler, do people think the four-time NFL MVP will have a similar answer to Fields when addressing this “revenge game?”
Probably not.
