For the first time since 2021, JuJu Smith-Schuster will be playing at Acrisure Stadium this week. The former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and second-round draft pick will be making his return to the Steel City this Thursday night with the New England Patriots, his first trip back since leaving the team via free agency in 2022.
Smith-Schuster told reporters in New England this week that he’s excited to be returning to Pittsburgh — and also looking to play the spoiler in front of his former fans.
“I’m excited,” he said. “First time going back. It’ll be cool to see Mike Tomlin, play against those boys and just get a win.”
Smith-Schuster was the Steelers’ second-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He had a torrid start to his NFL career with the Steelers, with 58 catches for 917 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie in 2017 and then 111 catches for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns in his lone Pro Bowl season in 2018.
The Steelers offense changed big-time in 2019, with the departure of Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger missing most of the season, and Smith-Schuster never really recaptured the magic of his first two seasons in Pittsburgh.
When his rookie contract expired after the 2020 season, the NFL was in the midst of a pandemic-induced salary cap crunch, and Smith-Schuster came back to the Steelers on a one-year deal. But he was injured for almost all of the 2021 season, playing in just five games.
After the Steelers’ playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Roethlisberger’s final game, Smith-Schuster sought greener pastures in free agency, and he found them right back in Kansas City. He played the 2022 season with the Chiefs, catching 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns in the second-best season of his career on the way to a Super Bowl title.
This offseason, he finally found the long-term contract he was looking for, signing a three-year, $25 million deal with the Patriots.
In three years’ time, Smith-Schuster has played for Mike Tomlin, Andy Reid and now Bill Belichick. He said that Tomlin and Belichick have similar approaches to building a team.
“You have two guys who’ve won Super Bowls,” he said. “It’s the same language on what it takes to build a team like that.”
Of course, the Super Bowls are long distance for the two coaches this Thursday. Tomlin won his in his second season in 2008. Belichick won in 2019, but hasn’t won a playoff game since Tom Brady left in 2020 and seems farther away from a title than ever with his Pat currently 2-10 and on the brink of elimination from postseason contention.