Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster returned to the lineup last week after missing four games with a knee injury and caught two passes for 22 yards in a 16-10 loss to the Jets.
Smith-Schuster had a shot at a third catch on the team’s final offensive play of the game. He got his fingers on a high pass from quarterback Devlin Hodges, but couldn’t reel it in and said this week that he “could have adjusted to the ball better or maybe pushed off back and tried to do a miracle catch.”
If another opportunity like that should arise against the Ravens this weekend, Smith-Schuster says he feels more like himself than he did last week.
“I feel a lot more better this week, just the smoothness of it,” Smith-Schuster said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I think last week we were kind of like iffy if I was going or not. This past week, I have been a full participant in everything, in all the practices, so I feel fine. I think my conditioning is up there. Just got to keep playing.”
Coming into the season, the hope in Pittsburgh was that Smith-Schuster would prove to be a capable No. 1 receiver in the Steelers offense. Injuries and quarterback changes have made for an imperfect run at filling that role, but a strong finish would be reassuring whether it results in a playoff berth or not.