The day began with legitimate questions about the status of three key Pittsburgh Steelers starters for Sunday’s game at the New York Jets game. By Friday afternoon, all three were cleared to play.
Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, tight end Vance McDonald and cornerback Joe Haden practiced fully and were given a clean designation on the injury report.
Smith-Schuster missed the past four games because of a knee injury. McDonald missed one because of a concussion, and Haden has not missed any games but sat out Thursday’s practice because of a foot injury.
The Steelers announced an hour after practice that McDonald cleared NFL concussion protocol. Players in protocol are not permitted to speak with media.
Haden declined to speak with reporters Friday, but he did take about 20 minutes making his way around the locker room passing out free Air Jordan shoes to teammates.
JuJu Smith-Schuster on the challenges associated with his return to game action Sunday against the Jets pic.twitter.com/H8j9y2hVK8
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 20, 2019
Smith-Schuster said he wants to watch his conditioning after not playing in a game in more than a month.
“I’m super excited,” Smith-Schuster said, “just because I haven’t been (playing) for a while. And now that I’m back, to be around my boys, the coaches, players, and just to be myself.”
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