Aaron Rodgers' Late-Season Play Questioned by NFL Coach Despite 4 TD vs. Fields, Jets

Aaron Rodgers seemed to turn back the clock Sunday as he led his Pittsburgh Steelers to a 34-32 victory over the New York Jets with four touchdown passes, but one NFL coach believes there were signs the veteran could still struggle down the stretch of the season.

"What he has to watch out for is those wrist flicks turn into interceptions later in the year," the coach told Mike Sando of The Athletic. "The four (TDs) is what everyone sees. Nobody pays attention to the two dropped interceptions or the fact that, just four or five years ago, he'd go five games without one of those."

New York's defense did miss some chances to put the game away with near interceptions, and Xavier Gipson's fumbled kickoff return in the fourth quarter that set Pittsburgh up for a go-ahead touchdown might have made the difference in a win or loss for both teams.

But Rodgers was still impressive as he completed 22-of-30 passes for 244 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions in a performance that was all the more notable because it came against his former team that did not bring him back this offseason.

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"I was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets," the future Hall of Famer told reporters. "I gave as much as I could to the team. I didn't have any hard feelings about it not working out. I didn't maybe appreciate the way it went down in the end, but that's in the past.

"And we're 1-and-0."

On the other side was Justin Fields, who was also playing against his former team in the Steelers and put on an offensive show while completing 16-of-22 passes for 218 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions to go with 48 yards and two scores on the ground.

He played well enough to win in his Jets debut and at least provided the home fans with some reason for optimism moving forward even as they watched Rodgers play at a level he rarely did in a New York uniform.

After all, Rodgers was just 5-12 as a starter last season and was 29th in the league in QBR, per Pro Football Reference.

To hear the one coach tell it, that version of Rodgers could be making another appearance later in the season despite Sunday's impressive win.