Update (12:08 PM): According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Pittsburgh Steelers’ WR JuJu Smith-Schuster had shoulder surgery last night and will miss the rest of the season due to the injury.
Rapoport corrected that tweet, noting the decision to have surgery was made last night but Smith-Schuster hasn’t undergone surgery yet. He also tweeted out more specifics of the injury.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter puts the timetable at four months.
Our original story is below.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is expected to miss the rest of the 2021 season due to a shoulder injury that he suffered during the team’s Sunday Week 5 road win against the Denver Broncos, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. The report was confirmed my Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
Smith-Schuster injured his shoulder while being tackled ion an end-around run later in the second quarter of Sunday’s game at Heinz Field. He was in a lot of pain as he walked off the field while team medical personnel held his right arm. Head coach Mike Tomlin said that Smith-Schuster had to go to a local hospital to receive treatment for his injury.
Later Sunday night, Smith-Schuster posted an ominous message on his Snapchat page that you can see below.
Smith-Schuster is set to have his contract void not long after the 2021 season ends. If he is indeed done for this season, there’s a good chance that he has now played his final snap for the Steelers.
The Steelers signed wide receiver Cody White off the team’s practice squad on Saturday so he will likely stay on the 53-man roster with Smith-Schuster now likely to go to the Reserve/Injured list.
It will be interesting to see if the Steelers have any interest in free agent wide receiver Anthony Miller now. He can play in the slot and is a Memphis product that I bet Randy Fichtner helped scout when he was the Steelers offensive coordinator.
