When Aaron Rodgers showed up in Steelers gear this week, the NFL world got buzzing—but nobody was more charged than the Green Bay Packers. Jordan Love smiled about it first, saying he’s “excited for it” and finds it awesome to play against him in week 8. Suddenly, what was a normal offseason turned into prime-time theater—former mentor vs. rising star—with that Sunday night spotlight ready to fire up both locker rooms.

Now, coach Matt LaFleur is dropping hints; he’s bracing for the matchup. But rather than getting excited for the meetup with Rodgers like Jordan, coach LaFleur had a major concern ahead of the week 8 showdown. After all, he’s Rodgers’ former head coach. And his major concern is that Rodgers might be sharing the Packers’ signals with everybody in Pittsburgh. “It will be a great challenge for us,” the head coach said.

“We all know what kind of player he is and how good he is. I’m sure he’ll be telling everybody all our signals. So, we’ll have to maybe play that mind game with him a little bit.” Understandable. Totally. Rodgers has spent nearly a couple of decades with the Packers and four seasons under Matt LaFleur’s leadership. And that means only one thing.

The 41-year-old quarterback is well-versed in the Packers‘ offense and LaFleur’s offensive mind, and there is no doubt that he has mastered the head coach’s system, including its audible words, hand signals, cadence prompts, and situational checks. When LaFleur joined Green Bay as their head coach, he straight-up admitted that they were going to talk more about the audible thing.

“Aaron and I have had some good talks, and we’re going to have to talk a lot more — and one thing we have to work through is the audible thing,” he had said. And his cadence prompts? Rodgers is famous for using tricky timing to fool defenders into jumping early. Remember that 2020 Thursday night showdown against the Saints? The veteran quarterback pulled off one of his classic tricks.

Late in the fourth, third-and-3, and he just hit ’em with a hard count so slick that Demario Davis jumped early. Boom—free play. And as if scripted, Rodgers chucked it deep, drew a flag, and pretty much iced the game. Classic tale. And it’s just one of his tricks. So, the Packers better watch out. But looks like the team’s head coach is well prepared to face his former quarterback in a few months,

After all, LaFleur made it clear that they’re going to play the mind game with Rodgers. Because let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If Rodgers knows the Packers’ playbook, let’s not forget—LaFleur knows his old quarterback just as well. So, expect ’em to scramble signals, use dummy calls, or maybe deploy fake audibles to confuse Rodgers, just in case. Because the Packers, like most of the teams, are known for changing audibles weekly.

Speaking of the QB, while Matt LaFleur is planning to play mind games against Rodgers, his QB and Rodgers’ successor, Jordan Love, is getting excited to play against the four-time MVP.

It’s fun playing against Aaron Rodgers for Jordan Love

It was 2020 when the Packers finally drafted their third-generation franchise quarterback, Jordan Love (hopefully), after Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. And three years later, Love took the reins when Rodgers left his beloved Packers, where he cemented his name as one of the finest quarterbacks to ever play in the league. Fast forward to now, and Rodgers is all set to play for his third team.

And get this, expect the 41-year-old quarterback to make every Steelers‘ game a must-watch. “I was excited for A-Rod. I don’t think I was too surprised.” Jordan said after finding out that his mentor is joining the Steelers. “I feel like there was a lot of rumors going on throughout the whole offseason about him going to the Steelers. I was excited for him that he was obviously coming back and going to be playing.”

Speaking of the must-watch games, it’s safe to say that the week 8 clash between the Steelers and the Packers on October 26 is going to be a must-watch not just in Pittsburgh. Nope. Expect it in Green Bay as well. Why? Well, for starters, Love will face off against his mentor. Second, he’s hoping for a jersey swap after the game. “It’s going to be fun,” he said about playing against Rodgers.

“It’s going to be awesome, I’m excited for it. I can’t wait to be on different sides, meeting up. I know we’ll take pre-game and things like that. Hopefully, we can exchange jerseys after.” Knowing the fact that these two quarterbacks share mutual respect for each other, it won’t be surprising if Rodgers agrees to swap jerseys with Jordan. That said, one thing’s certain now. Mark your calendars for a thrilling showdown between the Steelers and the Packers in week 8 of the 2025 season.