Sometimes in the heat of the moment, an athlete and coach may use foul language that gets caught on a TV broadcast. So far in the 2026 NFL season, the athlete involved has, more often than not, been Aaron Rodgers.
That was the case again on Thursday, October 1, when Rodgers’ Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Cleveland Browns, 27-24.
“What the f***? Call it!” Rodgers, 42, was caught shouting at his head coach, Mike McCarthy, in the first quarter, over a crowd that the quarterback admitted made it tough to hear.
The Prime Video cameras then panned to the sideline where McCarthy, 62, appeared to mouth, “F***ing asshole” in response.
The pair was asked about the moment after the game, with the Steelers coach owning up to his part.
“Communication sometimes is not the best choice of words, but everybody’s competing on the field,” McCarthy told reporters. “I think what’s said on the field, the way I grew up in this game, usually stays on the field. That’s not the case today. I understand that. But any negative communication on my part, I wish I wouldn’t use those words.”
Rodgers, meanwhile, admitted that the raucous Huntington Bank Field crowd made it difficult to communicate.
“It was loud,” he said. “It was definitely a good crowd tonight. It was loud. So some of the calls, it was hard to hear for sure.”
It was the second week in a row that Rodgers was caught in the middle of an angry outburst. During the team’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, September 27, he was seen yelling, “That motherf***ing sucks ass. F***ing sucks ass.”
It’s not clear exactly what he was talking about, but fans speculated he was again frustrated with the playcalling.
That game came a week after the Steelers lost, 20-3, to the New England Patriots, and Rodgers told reporters after the win that the team is moving in the right direction.
“There’s overreactions when we put up three points and look like dog… you know what,” he said. “We had a nice game today. We put up over 400 yards and 30 points, and it could have been a lot more. But every week is a different week, different challenge, different opponent, different defense.”
After the loss to the Browns, Rodgers took responsibility for his own play. He completed 22 of 40 passes, his lowest rate of the season so far, and threw two interceptions to go with three touchdowns.
“It wasn’t our cleanest game all the way around,” he said. “They’re a good defense, so you got to give them credit, but they were getting after us on some of the long-yarded stuff that we weren’t winning a bunch, and I missed a couple throws that I usually hit.”
With the loss, the Steelers are now 2-2, headed into a 10-day layoff before they face the Indianapolis Colts on October 11.
