The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to face their old conference foes, the New England Patriots, on Thursday night in Week 14. While these are not the Patriots of old, led by Tom Brady, they will be bringing a familiar face back into the city, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Now, Smith-Schuster is telling the media he is looking forward to returning.
Charles LeClaire / USA Today
Former Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster emerges on to the field prior to a game.
Smith-Schuster was selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of USC. He joined a Pittsburgh team that was stacked with talent, including Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, and Darrius Heyward-Bey. He started as a kick returner and quickly worked his way into the starting lineup catching passes from Ben Roethlisberger.
He not only earned a spot on the team, but he also earned fans' respect when he delivered a blind-side block on archnemesis Cincinnati Bengals linebacker, Vontaze Burfict. During his five seasons in Pittsburgh, Smith-Schuster had very respectable statistics.
The Steelers are well known throughout the league as "Wide Receiver University," so they rarely keep receivers for their whole career. They prefer to develop new ones and use that money elsewhere, a formula that has mostly worked in their favor. Thus, they allowed Smith-Schuster to test free agency in 2022 and he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he helped them win a Super Bowl.
Kansas City Chiefs
Former Steelers wideout Juju Smith-Schuster somewhat revived his career with the Chiefs in 2022, as he had the second-best season in his career.
After his one-year contract was up, Smith-Schuster left Kansas City for the Patriots, where he was signed to a three-year deal. Since arriving in New England, Smith-Schuster has not been the dynamic receiver we remember. So far in 2023, he has only started six games and scored one touchdown. He recently shared how excited he is to return to Pittsburgh.
"I'm excited, you know, first time going back. It will be cool to see Mike Tomlin and play against those boys, and just go out there and get a win," said Smith-Schuster.
He was asked what advice he gave his teammates about how to win in a place like Pittsburgh. They wanted to know if he shared any inside information with them. Smith-Schuster said he told them to, "Just win." The media went on to ask him about the two head coaches - Mike Tomlin and Bill Belichick. He shared that the two have a lot of similarities.
"You have two guys that have won Super Bowls, they speak the same language on what it takes to build a team like that," explained Smith-Schuster.
During his time in Pittsburgh, Smith-Schuster became one of the most dynamic wide receivers in the NFL, going to the Pro Bowl in 2018. However, he also had one of the best-supporting casts in his teammates in Pittsburgh. He doesn't quite have that same level of offensive skill with the Patriots. They have struggled this year with their quarterback situation. Third-year quarterback, Mac Jones has been benched four times already this season.
CBS Sports
New England Patriots Quarterback Mac Jones
The plan coming into Pittsburgh is for backup Bailey Zappe to start for Jones. Jones was once seen as the face of this franchise after the Brady era came to an end. Now Jones finds himself in unfamiliar territory. During his time at the University of Alabama, he worked hard to develop and earn his starting spot. Along the way, he helped the Crimson Tide win two National Championships. The revolving quarterback door has made it a tough season for Smith-Schuster, who has also battled injuries.
Steelers Had Other Issues With JuJu Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schuster's gameplay is not the only thing that has changed since his time at Pittsburgh. He seems to have matured overall and isn't getting dinged for some of the antics we saw in Pittsburgh. His behavior while with the Steelers became a polarizing feature for fans with the group being split into two camps.
His presence on social media, especially TikTok, was controversial with fans and the media. He was slammed for dancing on other team's logos before games, calling the Browns organization "nameless grey faces," and let's not forget the milk crate challenge. His critics felt that Steelers' opponents used all this behavior to fuel the fire and beat Pittsburgh. At the very least, it was a bad look since they weren't winning all of those games.
Peter Diana / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Twitter / X
Former Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster dances in Cincinnati while Chase Claypool films him.
But it was more positive than negative, and Smith-Schuster had the majority of the city's gratitude and admiration. He also won over his teammates as they named him Team MVP in 2018.
There is no doubt the return to Pittsburgh will be an emotional one. Smith-Schuster gave us mostly five good years and the majority of the fans have respect for him.
What do you think about Smith-Schuster? How did you feel about some of his antics while in the Steel City? Click to comment below.
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