The Pittsburgh Steelers open their season this year against the New York Jets. They’ll face an old friend in Justin Fields, the Jets’ starting quarterback. Also, Aaron Rodgers will get a chance to face his former team and maybe get some revenge. However, they aren’t the only ones involved in this matchup. There should be several interesting matchups, such as Jets All-Pro corner Sauce Gardner versus DK Metcalf. Gardner is a known trash talker, and he’s battled Metcalf before, although he’s not sure what to say to the receiver yet.
“I don’t even know yet,” Gardner said recently on Up and Adams with Kay Adams. “Me and DK [Metcalf] don’t even talk. When he gets mad about something, he wants to block you hella hard. That’s his thing. I feel like I can get to him, but that’s how he takes his anger out.
“If he gets mad, he wants to go block somebody hella hard or when he got the ball, he wants to try to run somebody over, stiff arm. I respect that, though.”
Metcalf and Gardner have matched up two times before in their NFL careers. The first came in 2022, Gardner’s rookie season. That was a rough outing for Metcalf, who only posted one catch for three yards.
Their next meeting came last year, and while it wasn’t as bad, Metcalf still didn’t meet his own standard. He recorded four catches for 66 yards. While that’s a fine stat line, Metcalf saw nine targets in that game. Therefore, his final numbers are a little underwhelming.
However, things might be different this year with Rodgers throwing him the ball. The two of them have been working hard to develop chemistry, and the Steelers are looking for them to give their offense a boost. Gardner is familiar with Rodgers, but that doesn’t make the veteran quarterback any easier to defend against.
Metcalf’s response to trash talk might be music to some Steelers fans’ ears, too. In recent years, they’ve seen George Pickens allow his frustrations to boil over, resulting in fights and costly penalties. However, while it sounds like Metcalf gets physical in response to trash talk, he seems to at least channel those feelings toward something that should help the team.
Week 1 is fast approaching, so fans don’t have to wait too much longer to see Metcalf on the field for the Steelers. Gardner will present him with a big test, but hopefully the Steelers’ offense is ready to meet that challenge.