It’s a rollercoaster of a day for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they host the Denver Broncos in Week 5. They’ve gone from seeing flashes of prime Ben Roethlisberger via deep passes to some reminders of his aging ways, but they are working on pulling away from the Broncos going into halftime — knowing there’s a chance they might have to take the field in the second half without wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
The talented young wideout was helped off of the field after suffering what’s being labeled as a shoulder injury in the second quarter. He has now been ruled out after initially being listed as questionable to return.
The issue is made arguably worse by the fact Smith-Schuster didn’t go down on a receiving play, as he has only been targeted once and has no catches on the day. It was on a handoff — his second of the day — wherein he went down hard after he was taken down hard by safety Kareem Jackson.
Smith-Schuster hit NFL free agency this past offseason but waved off offers to join other clubs, one being the Baltimore Ravens, to remain with the Steelers on a one-year deal worth $8 million. He’s mostly taken a backseat to breakout star Chase Claypool and is looking to regain prime form. But through the first four games of the season, he’s mustered only 129 combined receiving yards with no touchdowns on just 15 receptions (on 27 targets).
If he misses any time going forward, his time with the Steelers will run headfirst into another rocky season.
This is a developing story.
