Aaron Rodgers chatted with plenty of longtime friends. He proudly watched a protégé perform at a high level. He even heard a familiar chant.

What Rodgers didn’t to do in his highly anticipated first meeting against the team he long starred for? Win.

Rodgers compiled good numbers, but his Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.

Rodgers completed 67% of his passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 101.5 passer rating. But he was outshined by the man who replaced him after a decade-and-a-half as the Packers’ starting quarterback, Jordan Love.

The 35-25 loss left the 41-year-old Rodgers feeling “disappointed.” But he also was able to acknowledge the warmth he felt at reminiscing with some former teammates and several Packers staffers during the time well before kickoff Sunday.

“It was good to see a lot of people that I grew up with in the league,” Rodgers said. “Three hours before the game I was out there spending time with some of those guys, and I enjoyed that.

“This game is about relationships, and some of my dearest friends are not players.”

One player who suited up with Rodgers in Green Bay that he has remained close with is Love, whom the Packers drafted in 2020 and backed up Rodgers for three seasons before Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets in 2023.

Love on Sunday completed 29 of 37 passes for 360 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 134.2 rating.

“I thought J-Love played great,” Rodgers said. “He was super efficient. He didn’t get sacked, moved around really well, and made some plays outside the pocket. Thought he played outstanding.”

Love began the second half with 20 consecutive completed passes (21 if you count a two-point conversion play) — a figure Rodgers never reached over 15 years as Green Bay’s starter.

“Being behind A-Rod for three years and being able to see him and the high-level play he was capable of going out there and doing, and being able to put the ball on the money at all times, was very cool for me to be able to see,” Love said.

“I knew coming in this week it would be a very hyped-up game and talked-about game for A-Rod playing against the Packers for the first time, and obviously us going up against each other. … My mindset was just trying to come out here and focus on getting that win.”

Love did that, in comeback fashion after the Steelers had built a 16-7 halftime lead.

That quickly disappeared during a second half in which the Packers scored on their first five possessions. By the time Green Bay built a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter, Acrisure Stadium began to empty — leaving a majority of Packers fans.

That led to repeated, loud “Go Pack, Go!” chants from the seating areas.

“I’d heard that chant for 18 years,” Rodgers said. “Packer fans travel really well. First time in a while I’ve used silent count for a home game. That’s a credit to those Packer fans.”

After the Steelers’ Week 1 victory at the Jets, Rodgers openly acknowledged he enjoyed beating the team that had released him less than six months prior.

He had much warmer feelings toward the Packers, with whom he won a Super Bowl along with four NFL MVP awards.

Still, teammates badly wanted to make Rodgers a winner — one that would have made him only the fourth quarterback in NFL history to have a victory against all 32 current teams.

“He did not address the locker room,” linebacker Patrick Queen said of Rodgers about facing his longtime former team, “but we all knew what it meant. That’s the stuff that kind of stings the most. You want to get that for him.

“You want to go get it for him, so that definitely stings. Definitely stings.”

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