The New England Patriots signed wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster this offseason with the hope he could become a go-to weapon for Mac Jones. Months before Week 1, Smith-Schuster’s injury history is already coming back to hurt New England.
Smith-Schuster has missed multiple games in the past two years, playing in 16 contests last season with the Kansas City Chiefs and only five in 2021 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. While he passed his physical after signing with New England, he’s reportedly still bothered by an issue from last season.
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According to Mike Giardi of NFL Network, Smith-Schuster is still recovering from an injury that the Chiefs’ coaching staff and medical team had to carefully manage last season. Kansas City often let the veteran skip practices and managed his reps, wanting to avoid making the knee issue much worse. It’s heightened concerns heading into training camp.
- JuJu Smith-Schuster stats (2022): 78 receptions, 933 receiving yards, 47 first downs
Smith-Schuster’s knee is concerning for New England for several reasons. First, the 26-year-old acknowledged this spring that the Patriots’ playbook is complex and takes significant time to learn. Missed practice reps mean far more limited opportunities to start creating familiarity within the offense and he loses chances to build chemistry with Jones.
Of equal concern for New England is the downside of what happens if Smith-Schuster misses time. He’s the No. 1 receiver on the Patriots’ depth chart and after losing Jakobi Meyers to the Las Vegas Raiders, New England is at risk of having to rely on Kendrick Bourne, DeVante Parker and Tyquan Thornton.
With Smith-Schuster clearly still bothered by a knee injury that he had months to recover from, New England might feel even more incentivized to sign DeAndre Hopkins this summer. Otherwise, the Patriots’ passing offense could experience some of the same issues it had in 2022.
