Aaron Rodgers gives high praise to Patriots rookie following loss

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers came away impressed with one rookie following Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots.

It’s not one of his teammates, though…

“Great (expletive) job, man,” Rodgers told New England rookie Gabe Jacas on Sunday, per video shared by Morey Hershgordon of 7 Boston. “You just kept trying to take my head off.”

“It was pretty funny to have that interaction with him,” Jacas said in the locker room after the fact, per NBC Sports Boston. “I came up to him after the game, he was cool.”

Jacas definitely deserved the praise, as he wrapped up the afternoon with an interception and three quarterback pressures on the all-time great — with one of the pressures leading to a moment where the two laughed on the field together and the interception serving as the first in the rookie’s career dating back to youth football.

“It was just surreal because I never had a pick before in my career,” Jacas said. “…It was pretty cool to get the first pick against Aaron Rodgers.”

Jacas has come on strong during the first two weeks of his career, picking up the first sack of his career in the second quarter of the season-opener in Seattle and his first interception one week later against Pittsburgh. It’s somewhat surprising, too — not because he doesn’t have the pedigree as a second-round pick but because he missed the majority of training camp with an injury and contract issues.

Jacas has received plenty of flak for his contract situation from head coach Mike Vrabel, but his response to the ribbing has been to work hard and show up at 6:45 a.m. every morning to work on different striking methods and pass-rush moves with his head coach prior to the start of team meetings at 8 a.m.