Rodgers downplays McCarthy quarrel, player outbursts: Showing passion 'is a positive'

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  Brooke PryorOct 7, 2026, 04:41 PM ET

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  Brooke Pryor is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019. She previously covered the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and the University of Oklahoma for The Oklahoman.

PITTSBURGH -- Aaron Rodgers downplayed his expletive-filled interaction with head coach Mike McCarthy captured on the Thursday Night Football broadcast, and he also called the outburst of emotions from teammates during the loss "a positive."

Rodgers' explicit hot mic moment and McCarthy's ensuing profane response came midway through the first quarter as Rodgers urged McCarthy to get the call in faster during the Steelers' lengthy opening drive. It was just one of several heated moments between Steelers' players and coaches caught on the broadcast during the Steelers' 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Despite the Thursday night outbursts, Rodgers, his teammates and Steelers coaches have insisted this week that emotion is a normal and healthy part of the game -- not an indication of a fractured group.

"I think it is a positive," Rodgers said Wednesday of sideline emotion. "Player-led teams are the best teams. I think anytime you're seeing the fire and the passion from all those guys, it's a good thing."

Asked if he considered the Steelers to be a "player-led team," Rodgers urged his teammates to keep stepping up.

"It needs to be even more, probably," he said. "... Accountability is an important part of this thing, so we're all accountable to each other."

Rodgers added that he and McCarthy have talked, including about the timing of the play calls, since the loss. Asked if everything was ironed out, Rodgers quickly responded, "It's always ironed out."

McCarthy said Monday that while the interaction with his quarterback wasn't "normal," it's the byproduct of having a long relationship with Rodgers, whom he coached for 13 years in Green Bay.

"I think the reality of it is, it's a 20-year relationship." McCarthy said. "I think the fact that we were able to sit and talk numerous times over the weekend about that and a number of things. ... I'm hopefully -- not to put any pressure on my daughter -- I'm getting to the grandfather age. I don't want to be saying those types of words, but it's an emotional competitive environment.

"I think it's something that we can definitely learn from."

But when asked if the exchange Thursday was the "normal" way the two communicate, Rodgers said, "sometimes, yeah." The quarterback was also affirmative when asked if their method of communication was effective.

"Yeah," he said, "we've had a lot of success together."

That exchange wasn't the only explosive one captured on the broadcast Thursday night. At one point, pass rusher T.J. Watt grabbed the headset and vocalized his frustration to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham in the booth. Veteran defensive lineman Cameron Heyward was also involved in heated arguments on the sideline.

While the primetime nature of the game put more eyeballs on the Steelers' interactions, those incidents were nothing out of the ordinary, Heyward said.

"We've always had emotion" Heyward said. "I don't think that's anything we shy away from. I've always been a candidate who tends to get a little bit feisty on the sideline, and I'm not going to apologize for that. That's part of the game. We hold ourselves to a high standard. We expect a lot of our group and when we don't do it, we're pissed off because of it."

On Monday, Graham said he prefers players directly communicate and voice their concerns to him, just as Watt did Thursday.

"We're getting to know these guys in the heat of the battle," Graham said. "... It's bound to happen. People always talk about it's an emotional game. We're emotional people. So to me, I encourage the emotions, in terms of, I want their full selves out there when they're playing. ... Nobody's sensitive here. We deal with conflict head on, and we'll get resolution in terms of how we're going to go about fixing things on that field, because that's the most important thing."

The Steelers spent the mini-bye following the Thursday night loss doing just that through an extensive self-scouting process. McCarthy and his staff met Monday and brought in the players Tuesday, typically their off day, to "work on ourselves" before diving into preparation for the Indianapolis Colts.

In describing the process of fixing the Steelers' own mistakes, including tackling and missed assignments, McCarthy inadvertently ignited a firestorm on social media from users who took his words out of context.

"We need to clean our own house," McCarthy said Monday. "Our house is not clean right now."

The coach, though, wasn't referring to a need for sweeping scheme or personnel changes. Instead, it was about fixing self-inflicted wounds, something his players understood completely and acknowledged as necessary.

"I think people got that not accurate from what I've seen," tight end Pat Freiermuth said Monday of the reaction to McCarthy's comment. "It was more so of us going over the first four weeks, what we can get better at, get on the same page, going into these next four games before the bye week.

"Everything is good in the locker room. We are working to win. I mean, we're 2-2. We wish we were obviously better, but there's some stuff on film that is correctable that we're able to fix coming up, and we'll be fine."