NEW YORK — Sunday’s game between the Jets and the Steelers is a unique quarterback matchup.

Justin Fields and Aaron Rodgers swapped teams during the offseason, with Rodgers joining the Steelers after the Jets released him.

Shortly after the Jets officially released Rodgers, Fields signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Jets.

“The storyline is crazy,” Fields said on Tuesday. “I mean, that’s why the NFL set us up for Week 1, just for that.

“But it’s cool. Cool to kind of see that, and it’s going to be fun going up against these guys on Sunday. It’s no storyline for me. It’s ball for me. I’ll let you guys kind of handle the storylines, the news lines, and stuff like that. In the locker room, we just keep it straight ball.”

Fields spent last season with the Steelers, where he was their backup quarterback. He started six games in Pittsburgh in relief of Russell Wilson after he suffered a preseason injury.

Fields was 4-2 in those starts, but the Steelers decided to turn back to Wilson once he was 100% healthy. Pittsburgh made the playoffs with Wilson under center, but lost their final five games, including a playoff loss to the Ravens in the AFC wild-card round.

Despite being benched, Fields said he considered returning to the Steelers, but decided to join Jets head coach Aaron Glenn after he was hired in January in hopes of ending the team’s 14-year postseason drought.

“Like I said, AG,” Fields said. “You know, playing against him for the first few years of my career in the league, and excited to change the culture here and get things going.

“So, I think that was kind of the most appealing thing to me.”

However, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said it wasn’t a one-way street when it came to Fields possibly returning to the Steelers.

“It’s free agency. It was not only our decision, it was his decision,” Tomlin said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “It was mutual. There are a lot of moving parts in free agency.”

A change of scenery was probably best for both Fields and Rodgers. Now Fields gets a chance to prove he can be a full-time starting quarterback with the Jets without looking over his shoulder the entire season. Rodgers and the Jets’ divorce is well-documented after he went on The Pat McAfee Show in April and said Glenn was concerned the four-time MVP would “undermine” him as a coach.

The Jets have been yearning for a franchise quarterback for decades. But they will give Fields the keys to the offense, at least for one season. The Jets could potentially release Fields next offseason and save $10 million if it is a post-June 1 cut.

Fields had some bright spots during the preseason after completing 3 of 4 passes for 42 yards against the Packers. But he struggled during his final preseason start against the Giants after completing only 1 of 5 attempts for 4 yards in two series.

Despite Fields' struggles against the Giants and his uneven training camp, Glenn continues to insist he is confident in Fields and the Jets’ passing game.

“Yeah, all through training camp, just understanding exactly who he is and what he likes, when it comes to the passing game, when he comes to the running game,” Glenn said. “Like, where does he want receivers to be at certain spots on the field to make sure that connection is on point?

“And here’s the thing. We’re also going to continue to learn as the season progresses. I mean, these guys have had a number of practices out there in training camp, but once you get in games, things start to change a little bit. And to me, it’s always been, and I’ve learned this from [former Steelers coach] Bill Cowher years ago, that sometimes you really don’t know what your team is just until you get four or five games down the road.

“So listen, we’re all mature in that aspect of really understanding, like really true game action man, who are we going to be as a football team? And I’m paying close attention to that.”

Fields will face a Steelers team with a few new faces. Along with their established stars like T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, Pittsburgh also added cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay.

Fields says Sunday will be another game for him, but his familiarity with the Steelers’ scheme could be an advantage.

“I was there last year going against their scout team, but you know, it’s Week 1,” he said. “They got a lot of new players on the defensive side of the ball, so they could do a lot of different things, and that’s how it is for everyone around the league in Week 1, to where you can game plan as much as you think you can, but they can come out in whatever.

“So, the biggest thing is just adjusting on the fly on Sunday when we do see stuff that we necessarily didn’t see coming.”

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