JuJu Smith-Schuster has only been with the Kansas City Chiefs for half a season. But he wouldn’t mind sticking around long term.
“I’d love to stay here to be honest,” Smith-Schuster said Thursday. “This offense is unbelievable. The coaching staff is unbelievable. If it was up to me, of course. Why not? You get to play with one of the best quarterbacks in the game.”
The Chiefs signed Smith-Schuster to a one-year, $10.75 million contract in March to help replace Tyreek Hill, and Smith-Schuster has helped fill that void. He has played in all eight games and has caught 44 passes for 582 yards and two touchdowns.
Last season with the Steelers, Smith-Schuster battled injuries and played in just five games. He has stayed healthy this season and caught a season-high 10 passes last week against the Titans.
“It was a physical game from beginning to end, even in overtime,” Smith-Schuster said. “A lot of balls I caught were kind of catch, bang, hit. So this week, two massages, working with the trainers, ice tub, cold tub, hot tub. Pretty much everything you can do to get back.”
Last week, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw the ball 68 times — third most in a game in NFL history. And though Smith-Schuster was on the receiving end of that, he said the offense is at its best when the run game is working as well.
“I think for us it’ll be getting the run game going,” Smith-Schuster said. “If you throw the ball 68 times, that puts a lot of pressure on the O-line and Pat to make those plays. But once you get a nice run game going it opens up those deep passes. You could see the 49ers game we had a couple big runs that set up the deep passes.”
