Aaron Rodgers doesn’t think Matt LaFleur and Mike Tomlin are in the hot seat

Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers eliminated themselves from the playoffs with a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round on Monday. After the game, online reports suggested the Steelers might part ways with Tomlin, who led the team to a winning season in each of his 19 years.

When Rodgers was asked if Tomlin’s future in Pittsburgh was in jeopardy, the veteran quarterback offered the coach his support. Rodgers also defended his former Green Bay Packers coach, Matt LaFleur, after the Packers were eliminated from the wild-card round on Saturday.

“This league has changed a lot in my 21 years,” Rodgers said Monday. “You know, when you hear conversations about the Mike Tomlins of the world, Matt LaFleurs of the world – those are just two that I played for – when I first came into the league, there wouldn’t be (a) conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat.

“But the way the league is covered now and the way there are snap decisions and validity given to Twitter pundits and all the TV pundits who make it seem like they know what they’re talking about, to me it’s an absolute joke. Whether either of those two guys are in the hot seat is really about where we are as a society and as a league.”

Rodgers played under LaFleur for four seasons from 2019 to 2022. The duo reached the playoffs in the first three seasons.

LaFleur led Green Bay to the playoffs in each of the three seasons following Rodgers’ departure. However, the Packers have been eliminated from the playoffs in the wild-card round the past two seasons.

Mike Tomlin sparks speculation about future with Steelers after loss to Texans

After his Steelers were eliminated from the playoffs, Mike Tomlin sparked speculation when answering a question about his potential future with the franchise.

“I’m not even in that state of mind when I’m sitting here tonight,” Tomlin said. “I’m more in the mindset of what happened in this stadium, and certainly what we did and didn’t do. It’s not an all-encompassing mindset as I sit here tonight.”

Tomlin led the Steelers to Super Bowl glory in 2009. However, in five of the last eight seasons in which Pittsburgh made the playoffs, he failed to advance past the wild-card round.