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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Carolina Panthers in Week 16 of the regular season, welcoming the NFC opponent to Acrisure Stadium in late December.
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The matchup is months away, but already, the Panthers are adding fuel to the fire. While sharing his faith in quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a former teammate of his decided to share his real thoughts on the Steelers, their QB and their new head coach – and it’s not too complimentary.
Panthers long-snapper J.J. Jansen is entering his 18th season in the NFL. The 40-year-old played with Rodgers, and said he still talks to him on occassion, according to one story he told about Mike Tomlin. However, he doesn’t believe he and Pittsburgh are going to do anything special this season.
“I just don’t think they’re particularly interesting,” Jansen said on the “NFL Daily” podcast. “I think they will be fine. I was in Green Bay when Aaron was a starter for the first time with Mike McCarthy. I think it’s gonna be a fine working relationship. One of the interesting things, getting to talk to Aaron a little bit last year, he spoke so highly of Mike Tomlin. He equated it to playing for Mike McCarthy. He has a lot of respect for Mike McCarthy.
“I thought Aaron played OK last year. You’re not paying Aaron $45, $50 million. … I still feel like they’re a 9-8 team. They’re gonna beat some teams that they shouldn’t, and they’re gonna lose some games that they shouldn’t. I would certainly trust the ball in Aaron’s hand in the fourth quarter, but it’s sort of just an uninteresting 9-8, 10-7, 7-10 kind of team for me.”
Steelers Boring Again?
Maybe the Steelers are boring this season, but it’s hard to say there is no excitement about this team. It’s interesting to watch the storyline of McCarthy and Rodgers reuniting for one final season before the future Hall of Famer heads to Canton, Ohio. It’s interesting to watch the Steelers have a new coach for the first time in 19 years, and one that’s from Pittsburgh. And maybe they don’t go win a Super Bowl, or do go 10-7, but watching it all develop is a story worthy following.
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But Pittsburgh will take it. They hear everything, and when Week 16 rolls around and the Panthers are coming to town, Rodgers and the Steelers will have bulletin board material to look at.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/steelers/onsi as Panthers Give Steelers Early Bulletin Board Material .
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This story was originally published July 12, 2026 at 11:00 AM.