Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster picked up two personal foul penalties seconds apart on Monday night, first for an illegal peel back block on Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, and then for taunting Burfict. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says the latter bothered him more than the former.
Tomlin said today that Smith-Schuster is a good young man who wasn’t trying to hurt anyone with the hit, but he needs to be more mature than to pick up a taunting penalty.
“His actions after the hit are more disturbing than the hit itself,” Tomlin said. “Often plays like that are teachable moments and when you look at it you talk about ways you can be safer and so forth. He’s a better sportsman than he displayed after the block. He’s got to work hard so that people understand what type of man he is from a sportsmanship standpoint.”
The NFL may suspend Smith-Schuster and will certainly fine him -- for both the hit and the taunting.