Legendary former tight end Rob Gronkowski joined the Aaron Rodgers pile-on this week, \criticizing the quarterback’s performance on the field in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday, September 20.
“Aaron Rodgers is probably thinking that he should have retired last year,” Gronkowski, 37, told former Patriots teammate Julian Edelman on Fox Sports’ “The Gronk & Jules Show” the next day. “After watching the first two weeks, I’m saying that’s what he was probably thinking. He may be thinking that if it continues the way it continues for the Steelers. I mean, there’s just no juice on that offensive side of the ball.”
Rodgers, 42, threw for 187 yards in the loss with no touchdowns and an interception. Gronkowski pointed out that Rodgers and Steelers coach Mike McCarthy have worked together for more than 150 games, dating back to McCarthy’s time coaching the Green Bay Packers. In that time, there were only two games in which Rodgers did not throw for a touchdown.
“Already, two weeks into the season, Aaron Rodgers had one touchdown pass in Week 1 and zero touchdown passes in Week 2,” Gronkowski said.
Rodgers seriously considered retirement last year before opting to return to the Steelers for a second season.
“I’m 42 years old and I’m on a one-year deal,” he told ESPN last December. “So you know what the situation is. Whenever the season ends, I’ll be a free agent. So that’ll give me a lot of options if I still want to play. I mean, not a lot of options, but there’ll be options, I would think, maybe one or two, if I decide I still want to play.”
Rodgers continued, “I’ve enjoyed this experience, and everybody in Pittsburgh has been fantastic to me on and off the field. And it’s really what I was hoping for this experience was, it’s been even better than I was hoping.”
He ultimately decided to play one more year, returning to Pittsburgh in part because the team hired McCarthy, 62. McCarthy coached the Packers from 2006 to 2018 and Rodgers was the team’s primary quarterback for his entire run.
“I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh,” Rodgers told reporters in May. “But when the decision was made to hire Mike, I started opening my mind back up to coming back.”
When asked if 2026 would be his final season, he added, “Yes. This is it.”
Pittsburgh’s next game will be at home against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, September 27.
