After becoming a member of the staff in unfastened company this offseason, Kansas City Chiefs large receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster’s early-season play can somewhat be described as cast — however no longer impressive. After catching six passes for 79 yards in Week 1’s victory over the Arizona Cardinals, his manufacturing plummeted in Week 2 towards the Los Angeles Chargers. Smith-Schuster stuck simply 3 passes for 10 yards in Kansas City’s Thursday evening victory over its AFC West opponents.
But the previous Pittsburgh Steelers large receiver stays unconcerned with how his new staff makes use of him.
“We talk about this all the time,” Smith-Schuster defined ahead of apply on Wednesday. “Anybody can get the ball. Anyone could make the play — regardless of who’s in that place. Just know that after your quantity is known as: make the play. That’s what it’s.
“I see myself being the guy that — wherever they need me at — I’m there to be that guy. Inside, outside, whatever that may be. If they need me to block, [I’ll] come block. If they need me to do this or do that — I’ll do it. I’m an all-around guy.”
Like all receivers who in finding luck in Kansas City, Smith-Schuster acknowledges the significance of mastering all formations in head trainer Andy Reid’s offense. He additionally realizes that such versatility fits the talents of quarterback Patrick Mahomes — and is helping the staff get ready for accidents.
“Knowing every position, knowing that Pat can trust you, [and] that you know what you’ve got on this route [or] on this play,” he mentioned of the staff’s expectancies. “In a situation where someone goes down, you’ve got to fill that void. Just because it’s a certain personnel [package] for a certain player — at the end of the day — everyone has to know that position. Everyone has to know that play because you never know when your time is called.”
He additionally famous that after Mahomes famously takes the offense out of construction, the receivers are themselves improvising to lend a hand him.
“When Pat’s scrambling [and] out of pocket,” he famous, “we’re all scrambling, trying to find a way to get the ball, catch the football, and make plays. That’s just the norm.”
And in accordance to Smith-Schuster, such effort is now the norm as a result of the time he and his teammates have put in together with his new quarterback right through the offseason.
“[I am] very comfortable,” he declared. “We’ve been practicing all throughout OTAs [and] all throughout camp. It’s something that we do in the game, and I’m not surprised when we score on it.”
Though he has no longer but scored as a Chief, his quarterback believes Smith-Schuster’s time is coming — and that the staff has already benefited from the receiver’s intangibles.
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Photo by means of Michael Reaves/Getty Images
“He’s going to be a great player,” Mahomes predicted in his personal media remarks Wednesday. “He’s going to have a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns and everything like that. But the way that he’s able to be a leader in that receiving room — as someone who’s new to a team — I think it’s going to keep making this offense and this team even better, because you have a guy that comes into work every single day and he puts in that work. He’ll get more and more opportunities as the season goes on.”
The subsequent alternative will come at the highway Sunday towards the Indianapolis Colts. While the 0-1-1 Colts have struggled early, Smith-Schuster is aware of no longer to take them frivolously, bringing up his revel in towards a few of their perfect defensive gamers — similar to cornerback Stephon Gilmore and linebacker Shaquille Leonard.
“Even though they’re struggling right now, I think they’re a great team,” he countered. “They’re going to have a lot of puzzles — great pieces — that they have on their defense that’s going to fit really, really well. I’m excited to go against Gilmore — he’s a guy that I went against multiple times when I was in Pittsburgh and him being in New England. It’s really cool. Their middle linebacker — he’s the captain on the team — he’s been doing it for so long. I just got to give it up to them. We can’t go into this game taking it lightly — especially with it being an away game.”
After Sunday, the Chiefs will start a three-game stretch of nationally-televised video games towards the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Buffalo Bills. Smith-Schuster reiterated that the staff’s focal point can handiest be on Sunday’s matchup with the Colts.
“Honestly, I don’t even know who we have next,” he claimed. “I just know that I have the Colts next. Every team is really, really good. I think you have to take it week by week. I focus on this week alone. The Colts — in Indy — are on our schedule for this week. Once we get past Sunday, then Boom! — we’re on to the next.”