Jordan Love Postgame Meeting With Aaron Rodgers Captures Attention After Packers Win
After a disappointing and frustrating first half on Sunday night in Pittsburgh, things appeared to click for Packers quarterback Jordan Love in the second half, as he helped orchestrate a 35-25 blowout of the Steelers. It’s significant because, in turning around a 16-7 deficit after two quarters, Love played the best half of the season, maybe even of his career.
He finished with 360 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions and no sacks against a fearsome defensive front. Love also completed 20 straight passes, making some history in the process–he’s the only quarterback ever to complete 20 straight passes in a game in which he went for 350 yards with no interceptions or sacks.
Most satisfying, though, was not just the way Love played. It was that he did it with his former mentor, Packers legend and current Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, on the opposite sideline.
Packers’ Jordan Love Wants Aaron Rodgers’ Game Jersey
Love and Rodgers spoke extensively about their relationship in the week leading up to the Week 8 showdown between the teams, but when they got together for a postgame handshake, nearing midnight in the East, the meeting was quick–though well-photographed and making the rounds on social media.
Love wants to do a jersey exchange with Rodgers, but given the late hour, they’ll have to circle back on that one.
“Just said good game, keep going for the rest of the season,” Love explained. “I want him to stay healthy, and I’ve got a lot of love for him. Very fun to go against him. I told him I needed that jersey, and we’re gonna exchange them at a later time.”
(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)Jordan Love #10 of the Green Bay Packers celebrates with fans after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-25 in the game at Acrisure Stadium on October 26, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Jordan Love Impressed Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers, similarly, was impressed with what Love was able to do in leading the comeback win. On his own, Rodgers was not bad, either, throwing for 219 yards on 24-for-36 passing with two touchdowns. But Love was the story.
“He played great, played fantastic,” Rodgers said. “He’s had a really nice season. He’s been really efficient with the football. He’s opportunistic, though. I felt like he was very patient tonight. They took the run solutions. He took the checkdowns, moved in the pocket well.
“He played outstanding.”
Packers Raised Focus After First Half
Love said the message at halftime was that the offense was not playing poorly, it was just not executing at the end of drives, part of which falls on kicker Brandon McManus, who missed two field goals.
Said Love: “When we came into the locker room at halftime, the message was that we just weren’t finishing, we weren’t executing our plays and we weren’t locked in. So, there’s plays to be made and I think we just weren’t executing those. … I think the message was, do your job, lock in, execute plays and stay on the field. And we did that.”
He did get himself into a zone in that second half, and now has the Packers at a 5-1-1 record, best in the NFL.
“I was just playing, I think you get into that as a player, where you just start flowing and playing well and everybody around me was making play as well and executing at a high level,” Love said. “Obviously, we knew what we needed to change at halftime, I am just glad we were able to do that.”
Browns Predicted to Add Undefeated Star to Replace Dillon Gabriel
It would be just the Browns‘ luck, wouldn’t it, to have two first-round picks (one likely a Top 5 pick) in a 2026 NFL draft that has depth and quality at a number of positions … but not so much at quarterback. It’s a legacy that stretches back more than three decades, the Browns’ inability to draft and develop a top-line quarterback, and there is real fear that the 2026 draft might not be the one to help them much.
Still, after five games of Dillon Gabriel, and unless there is a late-season revelation on Shedeur Sanders as a future star, the Browns will need to pick a quarterback in six months. The pool might be slim, but at Cleveland.com, they’ve got a path for the Browns to get a guy who has shown some toughness and grit–and who happens to be 6-foot-5, a nice contrast to the diminutive Gabriel.
The quarterback: Fernando Mendoza of undefeated Indiana.
Browns Could Land Top 2026 QB
Now, it should be noted that the mock draft does feature a big break for the Browns, in that the team lands with the fourth pick and none of the Top 3 pick a quarterback. That’s plausible, since two of the worst teams in the league–the Titans and Giants–appear to have QB1s in place. A third, the Saints, could decide they need to give last year’s second-rounder, Tyler Shough, a shot.
So the Browns get the pick of the QB litter.
Writes Tim Bielik of Cleveland.com: “Mendoza right now is QB1 and his game-winning drive at Penn State on Saturday only solidified that standing. He has just about everything a quarterback needs except for an elite deep ball. Mendoza has taken the next step as a quarterback under Curt Cignetti and looks like the type of QB who could turn a team like the Browns back around quickly.”
Fernando Mendoza Early QB 1 Leader
There is some debate on who is the top quarterback in this draft, with Ty Simpson of Alabama getting some of that attention, and Oregon’s Dante Moore also in the mix. And the one worrying aspect of it all is that none of those three were considered sure-fire first-rounders heading into this season. If only Arch manning had lived up to his hype, this might be an easy call.
Still, the Browns are unmistakably in the market for a quarterback, and Mendoza shines as a sort of anti-Gabriel–big and strong, poised in the pocket, while being both accurate and willing to take risks down the field. According to Pro Football Focus, Mendoza is not all that bad with the deep passes, completing 18 of his 33 passes of 20 yards or more this year.
(Worth noting: Gabriel is 2-for-8 on such passes with the Browns thus far.)
Mendoza’s completion percentage (71.3%) is excellent, and he has racked up 2,342 yards on the season in 10 games. The only games in which he did not top 200 yards passing were blowouts against Old Dominion and UCLA.
Browns Could Also Add a Top WR With Fernando Mendoza
The good news for the Browns on their second first-rounder is that, should the team turn to more offensive help with that pick, there is a deep pool of first-round-worthy receivers on hand, and Cleveland should do what it can to pluck one of them.
The Cleveland.com mock has them landing USC’s Makai Lemon, who has been one of the most productive pass-catchers in college football. But Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State), Carnell Tate (Ohio State), Chris Bell (Louisville), and Denzel Boston (Washington) are also worth watching.
