Mike McCarthy expands on heated moment with Aaron Rodgers during Steelers’ loss to Browns

In the first quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 27-24 prime-time loss to the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 1, cameras picked up Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy exchanging some expletives after Rodgers seemed to get annoyed while waiting for an offensive play call.

Following that game, McCarthy admitted that he wished he “wouldn’t use those words” in the heat of battle. During a Monday news conference, McCarthy was once again asked about the interaction with the future Hall of Famer that went viral.

“I wouldn’t classify it as normal,” McCarthy said about that moment of the game, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “But I think the reality of it is, you know, it’s a 20-year relationship. I think the fact that we were able to sit and talk numerous times, you know, over the weekend, about that and a number of things. As I stated, I’m — hopefully, not to put any pressure on my daughter — I’m getting to grandfather age. You know, I don’t want to be saying those type of words. But it’s an emotional, competitive environment. I think it’s something that we can definitely learn from.”

Of course, McCarthy was referencing how he was first Rodgers’ head coach when the two were with the Green Bay Packers from 2006 through much of the 2018 season. The relationship between the two reportedly soured over their final campaigns together in Green Bay, and the “Thursday Night Football” moment understandably sparked new questions about how those two are getting along this fall.

Interestingly, McCarthy revealed that he told his players ahead of the Browns game that he wanted them to play with “more emotion” at Cleveland’s Huntington Bank Field.

“With that comes the discipline of it,” McCarthy added. “So I think those are opportunities for growth. But I’d much rather have too much energy than not enough.”

McCarthy seemingly will want Rodgers and other players to have more control of their emotions when 2-2 Pittsburgh hosts the 2-2 Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 11. As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Steelers as 2.5-point home favorites for that matchup.

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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