Confident Steelers' JuJu Smith-Schuster: 'I'm always open'

A mediocre four-game stretch that was his least productive in the NFL since breaking out midway through his rookie season?

It did little to diminish the confidence of JuJu Smith-Schuster.

“When it’s one-on-one, man-to-man, it may seem like I’m not open, but I’m always open,” the Pittsburgh Steelers top wide receiver said. “Just give me an opportunity, get the ball around me, and I’m able to make a good play.”

Smith-Schuster’s handful of “good plays” in his most recent game has allayed fears he is headed for a poor season at the worst possible time. He is due for a contract extension this offseason.

Smith-Schuster had five catches for 103 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown, in a 27-14 win against the Miami Dolphins on Monday night.

In the first four games after Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending elbow injury, Smith-Schuster had just 14 catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns playing with Mason Rudolph (Weeks 3-5, 7) and Devlin Hodges (Weeks 5-6).

Smith-Schuster had more catches of at least 17 yards in last week’s game (four) than he had in his previous four games combined (three).

“You know, it’s not easy when all of the repetitions come with one quarterback, and then it comes with another quarterback, and then it comes with another quarterback, then it goes back to another quarterback,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. “That’s not easy on (wide receivers).”

Smith-Schuster did manage touchdown receptions of 76 and 35 yards in that initial four-game span without Roethlisberger, but it still was Smith-Schuster’s least productive four-game stretch in catches or yards since Weeks 4-7 of the 2017 season, when he was a 20-year-old rookie.

But a 97-yard touchdown catch Oct. 29, 2017, in Detroit signaled Smith-Schuster’s arrival. In the 24 games he played from that point through the one before Roethlisberger’s injury, Smith-Schuster averaged 6.6 catches and 91.2 receiving yards per game.

The loss of Roethlisberger coupled with the offseason trade of All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown coincided with the drop-off in Smith-Schuster’s production. That has led to critics questioning whether Smith-Schuster is a legitimate No. 1 receiver.

Smith-Schuster said he is unfazed by his downturn in numbers.

“I’m just doing what I’m told,” he said this week, “and it if comes my way, God willing that I have a good game, then yeah.”

But even in the less-than-ideal circumstances of having No. 2 and No. 3 quarterbacks and the gameplan featuring less downfield passing, Smith-Schuster remains on a pace for a 1,000-yard season (1,012) and seven touchdowns, the same total as his first two years.

Smith-Schuster’s 76-yard catch-and-run Sept. 22 at San Francisco is the NFL’s sixth-longest pass play this season. During 2017 and ‘18, Smith-Schuster had the longest reception in the league (97 yards both seasons).

“When you’re the one throwing it to him, for sure,” Rudolph said when asked if he had confidence in Smith-Schuster. “I think his in-helmet experience, seeing that happen, seeing it take place in practice, as well as in the game, seeing it come to fruition, it definitely adds the trust factor … in big time situations.”

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