With the New England Patriots signing former Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in free agency, he’ll be playing under head coach Bill Belichick, who isn’t necessarily known for being personable. On episode 24 of his Footbahlin podcast, former Steelers quarterback and Smith-Schuster teammate Ben Roethlisberger talked about Smith-Schuster potentially having to adjust his persona in New England.
“It’ll be interesting to see, because JuJu is a very fun-loving guy as we all know, and he’s got to play for two head coaches in Andy Reid and Mike Tomlin that are very relaxed and laid-back and fun and allow a lot of things, a lot of fun. I don’t know that the coach that he’s playing for now really allows as much, so it’ll be interesting to see how and what JuJu has to do to dial it back a little bit,” Roethlisberger said via the Channel Seven YouTube channel.
Roethlisberger believes Smith-Schuster’s attitude will help him win over the New England organization.
“He’ll give his heart and soul, everything he has for the team. So I think the guys will like that, coach will like that. And he’s grown up a little bit now, maybe he won’t be too crazy,” he said.
Smith-Schuster obviously made headlines back in the 2020 season for making TikToks pre-game and post-game, which irked fans and opponents alike. He was again back in the headlines after a spat with Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown stemming from a Valentine’s Day joke Smith-Schuster made at the expense of Eagles’ cornerback James Bradberry, who committed a holding penalty near the end of Super Bowl LVII that ended up costing Philadelphia the game.
But the results on the field speak for themselves, and Smith-Schuster has been a productive receiver in the NFL. He had 111 receptions for 1,426 yards his second year in the league, and in his first and only season in Kansas City, he contributed 933 yards and three touchdowns en route to his first Super Bowl victory. While the receiver has generated negative headlines off the field, he’s also done a whole lot of good, including paying off layaway at stores around Christmas time.
The Patriots are getting a good receiver in Smith-Schuster, and I’m sure he’ll find a way to balance his fun-loving personality off the field with the player who’s constantly locked in on the field. We’ll see how he fares going from getting thrown to by Patrick Mahomes to getting thrown to by Mac Jones, but I have little doubt that Smith-Schuster is going to find a way to produce for New England.
