Picture your last year at a job you've done for 22 years. You know every trick, you've survived every bad meeting, and then, the week of a big presentation, half your team calls in sick. Welcome to Aaron Rodgers' Sunday.

Rodgers, 42, is in his 22nd and final NFL season, the AP reported. His Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4) at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. The game hasn't been played yet, so here's what to watch.

The receiver room is a group project now

On Saturday, the Steelers put receiver Roman Wilson on injured reserve with a finger injury from their Week 5 win, ESPN's Brooke Pryor reported. He'll miss at least four weeks. Wilson had become one of Rodgers' favourite deep targets, with two touchdown catches this season.

It's the second key receiver Pittsburgh has lost in two weeks, after Michael Pittman Jr. went on IR with a foot injury. With Ben Skowronek also ruled out, the Steelers are missing three of their top five pass catchers. Tight end Pat Freiermuth (calf) is questionable. The good news: top wideout DK Metcalf is off the injury list after an illness kept him out of Friday's practice.

To fill the gaps, the Steelers called up receivers Brandon Smith and Brandon Johnson from the practice squad. Rodgers sounded calm about it. "Seems like at this point it's just in-house options," he said. "We'll get some guys who haven't seen a lot of time out there and expect them to play well."

He also has history with both. "I've always been a fan of Brandon Johnson," Rodgers said. "I mean, he had his locker right next to mine last year." And on Smith: "Obviously I know B. Smith from New York and am a big believer in him." Nothing says trust like a locker-neighbour endorsement.

A chess match with an old rival

On the other sideline is Bucs coach Todd Bowles, who is known for disguising his blitzes, the plays where a defence sends extra pass rushers, so quarterbacks can't tell what's coming. Rodgers is 1-2 against Bowles' Tampa Bay defences, including a loss in the 2020 NFC Championship Game, per the AP.

The respect goes both ways. "It's a nightmare game-planning against him," Bowles said. "He can see it when the huddle breaks." Rodgers returned the compliment: "But he brings a lot of stuff you haven't seen before, so, good disguise team, good pressure team."

Rodgers is in good form, too. He has thrown three touchdown passes in each of his last three games and just passed Peyton Manning for third place in career touchdown passes, playoffs included.

Not exactly a sentimental goodbye

Asked whether he gets nostalgic visiting stadiums for the last time, Rodgers laughed. "There's a few places I'm glad I don't have to go back to, for sure," he said. Tampa might make that list: two of his six career three-interception games came at Raymond James Stadium, the AP noted.

The quarterback on the other side has a feel-good story of his own. Undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels makes his third straight start while Baker Mayfield recovers from a dislocated thumb, and he led the Bucs to a turnover-free win in Dallas last week. His philosophy is refreshingly simple: "if you see a hole, and it's a gaping, wide-open hole, probably take it."

What's next

Kickoff is 1 p.m. ET on CBS, with Pittsburgh a 2.5-point favourite, per the AP. Keep an eye on the two Brandons: one big catch and they're telling this story forever.