New York Jets All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner is champing at the bit to face his former teammate Aaron Rodgers in Week 1 when the Pittsburgh Steelera take on the Jets at MetLife Stadium.
Rodgers will be facing the team that spurned him earlier this offseason. Rodgers was released by the Jets earlier this offseason, and the star quarterback was quite disgruntled by the way that exit was handled, he revealed in an interview with Pat McAfee in April.
"It's gonna be crazy. There's gonna be a lot of emotions in that game, I don't care what people say about him. He's a phenomenal person," Gardner said on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday. "We got on the field, there's so much that he taught me as a player. Me playing cornerback, I'm not thinking a quarterback can help me."
Gardner praised Rodgers for his cerebral approach to the game. He knows the four-time MVP will be a massive challenge for the Jets in Week 1.
"I'm looking forward to it, because he might think he know all the tendencies that I have, but this offseason has really been me trying not to give nothing away, I've been trying to work on literally everything, because I already know I'm about to go against a wizard in Week 1," Gardner said.
"Watching the Steelers or somebody like Aaron, I can't really study Aaron, for real. Because he will show you the same exact tendency and do something totally different. So in terms of the Steelers, I would preferably study their OC, study the receivers, study the tight ends and stuff like that. Because you can't really get a beat on Aaron like that. And that goes all the way back to when we played the Packers .
Gardner knows Mike Tomlin will have his unit prepared for Week 1. He expects a hard fought game.
"Mike T, he definitely been cooking up, but I'm looking forward to the challenge because I always like challenges, but I know it's gonna be a good game, Gardner said.
There's a narrative attached to Rodgers that he isn't the best teammate, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Jets running back Breece Hall also recently said on the Da Get Got Pod with Marshawn Lynch and Mike Robinson that the four-time NFL MVP was phenomenal in New York.
"Very misunderstood person," Hall said. "Great dude, comes off to people a certain way. But once you really get to know him, you realize how good of a person he is. Last year, when you're losing games, the blame gets put on the faces of the team, and it just so happened to be guys like me, Sauce [Gardner], Garrett [Wilson], Aaron [Rodgers], Quinnen [Williams], and Quincy [Williams].
"I feel like when you're losing, somebody has to get let go — but what people don't realize is when stuff is crazy organizationally, then it's hard for players to have stability and win games. … But I love Aaron. Me and him still have a great relationship to this day. That's my guy."
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Jets All-Pro CB Explains Challenges of Facing Aaron Rodgers: 'I'm About to Go Against a Wizard in Week 1'
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