A lot of analysts liked the New England Patriots selecting edge rusher Gabe Jacas during the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. It’s safe to say, after Week 2, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers likes the pick too.
7News Boston’s Morey Hershgordon posted video of Rodgers shaking hands with the Patriots rookie edge rusher after New England defeated Pittsburgh 20-3 on Sunday. It’s hard to hear all the audio in the video, as Rodgers whispered a good part of his message into Jacas’s ear. But it’s pretty clear the Steelers quarterback was praising the rookie edge rusher.
The video also clearly caught one part of Rodgers’s message.
“Hey, great [expletive] job, man,” Rodgers said to Jacas during an embrace.
Jacas and the Patriots wreaked havoc on Rodgers and the Steelers offensive line Sunday. The Patriots registered four sacks and seven quarterback hits. Jacas had one quarterback hit, three tackles and a pass defense.
It was quite an encore for Jacas after Week 1. During the season opener, he posted three combined tackles, including two for loss with one quarterback hit and one sack in his career debut.
Gabe Jacas Gets Strong Message From Aaron Rodgers
It has to be very encouraging for a young player to receive that kind of message from a 4-time MVP after two games. Rodgers isn’t the same quarterback he used to be, but he’s still an NFL legend that has status around the league.
Rodgers has been in the NFL almost as long as Jacas has been alive.
It’s great the second-round rookie received props from the future Hall of Fame quarterback. It’s even better, though, that Jacas is off to such a hot start.
The Patriots defensive front gave Pittsburgh fits throughout Week 2 despite the team’s top edge rusher in terms of sacks last season, Harold Landry III, not playing. Furthermore, New England’s top free agent edge rusher, Dre’Mont Jones, also didn’t play all of Sunday’s game because of injury.
Four different Patriots defenders sacked Rodgers — Christian Elliss, Elijah Ponder, Joshua Farmer and Christian Barmore. Jacas was one of six different New England defenders with a quarterback hit. Ponder was the lone Patriots player with two quarterback hits on Rodgers.
Patriots Earn Much-Needed Victory
Pundits have discussed the Patriots schedule at length to begin the 2026 campaign. But it’s worth bringing up again how important it was for New England to beat Pittsburgh in its home opener.
The Patriots will open this season with four consecutive games against teams who won at least 10 games last season. Of those four matchups, three of them are on the road. The showdown with Pittsburgh was the only one set for Foxboro.
It’s early, but based on the first two weeks of performances, the Steelers appear to be the weakest of New England’s first four opponents as well. The other three are the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills.
There really is no such thing as a must-win in Week 2. But with road trips versus the Jaguars and Bills looming, it was important the Patriots to get their first win versus the Steelers and avoid an 0-2 hole.
The Patriots did just that while looking dominant on defense.
Patriots Rookie Gets Strong Message From Aaron Rodgers After Beating Steelers