Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Certainly May Have Created The Monster That Is Micah Parsons

The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to play the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 of the 2025 season. The game will be featured on Sunday Night Football, and there will be plenty of premiere storylines surrounding the game as the week continues. The most obvious one is Aaron Rodgers playing against the Packers for the first time in his career, which is where he made a name for himself in this league and built up his Hall of Fame career. He will be taking on his former head coach, as well as one of the best defensive players in the league in Micah Parsons.

Rodgers will look to take down the Packers on Sunday night, and if he manages to do so, he would have beaten all 32 teams in the NFL as a starting quarterback. It will be a tough task to take down Green Bay, and a lot of that has to do with Parsons, who is coming off of a three-sack performance in Week 7. Parsons has spoken out about how Rodgers is the reason he has so much confidence, as the quarterback asked the young defender for his jersey after they clashed earlier in Parsons' career. This was reported by The Athletic, who also spoke to Parsons about Rodgers this week.

"He was like, 'I want to trade jerseys with you,' and I’m like, 'The GOAT, Rodgers, wants to trade jerseys with me?'" Parsons asked. "To me, it’s a great sign of respect. Just the type of guy he is, that he could recognize such a young player in the league, so I have nothing but respect for him and he’s become one of my favorite players just because of that moment. The football side, I’m ready to get my rematch, but the personal side, I appreciate 'Rodg' for that because that gave me a boost of confidence. He just said, 'Keep going,’ and how much he believed in me, so that was big. He didn’t have to do that."

It sounds like Parsons was able to take a lot of confidence from this interaction with Rodgers, and could have fueled some of his successful earlier years in the league. Parsons recorded at least 12 sacks in the first four years of his career, and he has already recorded 5.5 in 2025. He is having just as much success in Green Bay as he was with the Dallas Cowboys, and he should be at the top of Pittsburgh's concerns on Sunday night.

There will be some extra fire coming from both sides when these two teams clash on Sunday night. There are some players and coaches in Green Bay's locker room that are going to want to take down Rodgers, and that will spread throughout the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Rodgers carries a chip on his shoulder like no other player in the league. He will come out looking to light the Packers on fire, and his teammates should be a little extra motivated as well to get the win for their quarterback.

Steelers' Broderick Jones To Be Heavily Tested Again In Week 7

One of the weak links of Pittsburgh's offense going into the 2025 season was left tackle Broderick Jones, but he has gotten better as the year has gone along. He performed well in Week 6 as he was able to shut down Myles Garrett, and he also played well in Week 7. He will now be tested against Parsons, as it is the first time the two will go against one another during their NFL careers.

This will be a matchup to watch, and Jones is going to have to play well to give Pittsburgh a chance to win.

What do you think about Parsons' interaction with Rodgers? Let us know in the comments below!

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