The New England Patriots went out and got JuJu Smith-Schuster this offseason in the hopes of giving Mac Jones an elite receiving weapon to throw to on Sundays. Jones's primary target from 2022, Jakobi Meyers, departed for the Raiders in free agency.
Now, Smith-Schuster's availability will definitely be a topic of focus after reports of the status of his knee have leaked out.
Albert Breer, touching on the receiver situation in New England several days ago, had this to say about Smith-Schuster's knee:
"JuJu Smith-Schuster's knee is a mess. And that thing could explode at any point... You almost have to keep an extra receiver because of that."
JuJu Smith-Schuster's knee sounds like cause for shutting him down
I'm not sure if Breer means a literal explosion or a figurative one for the Patriots, but either way, it sounds bad enough that the Patriots and Smith-Schuster should be moving extremely cautiously if this report is valid. He played just one preseason game and got one target.
Smith-Schuster, in response to Breer, said that he doesn't view his knee as a ticking time bomb and that it's getting stronger every day.
Smith-Schuster, who won a title with the Kansas City Chiefs last year, started 14 games including all three of the Chiefs' playoff contests. He was quiet in the divisional round and AFC title game, but came alive for seven receptions in the Super Bowl.
Smith-Schuster has gotten over the 75 reception mark in a season three times of his six years, one of those being last year. He landed over the 800-yard mark four times, 2019 and 2021 with the Steelers the only exceptions (12 and 5 games played respectively in those seasons).
Going into the year, JuJu is viewed as the WR1, with Kendrick Bourne and DeVante Parker rounding out the primary options for Jones. Only Parker is listed on the injury report as of now, though, questionable for Week 1. That seems to indicate the true status of Smith-Schuster's knee is closer to JuJu's assessment than Breer's. It is his knee, after all.
We should find out soon enough how big of an actual issue Smith-Schuster's knee truly is based on his production in the first few weeks of the season.
