PITTSBURGH — Diontae Johnson wasn’t quite sure what to make of JuJu Smith-Schuster in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room before practice. For the first time in three months, Smith-Schuster was suiting up, pulling on his cleats and pads at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex practice facility after the Steelers designated him to return from injured reserve on Thursday.
“Had no clue about it,” Johnson said after practice. “I was surprised to see him in the locker room. I was like, ‘Yo, you getting ready or something?’ Putting on these cleats. I’m happy he’s back. If he gets a chance to play, I’m going to be excited for him, seeing him do what he do, which is make plays. I’m sure everybody misses him doing his dances and everything out there.”
Smith-Schuster participated in Thursday’s practice, and while coach Mike Tomlin was scarce on the details of Smith-Schuster’s participation, Johnson gave an encouraging review.
“To me, it looked like he was ready,” Johnson said. “He’s got to ease himself back into things, but he looked smooth today.
“Great hands, natural catcher. Big hands, strong guy. Just seeing him run around, show that he’s still JuJu at the end of the day. It’s exciting.”
The Steelers have 21 days to activate him to the active roster, and Tomlin didn’t rule out the possibility of Smith-Schuster playing against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
“I don’t know that,” Tomlin said when asked if his wide receiver could play Sunday. “We just started the 21-day window. What transpires out here and a lot of other questions are part of the equation.”
The team also activated wide receiver James Washington from the reserve/COVID-19 list, and coach Tomlin gave an update on running back Najee Harris (elbow), saying the rookie is scheduled to return to practice Friday. That participation will be “telling” for Harris’ availability Sunday.
Smith-Schuster has been on IR since Oct. 16 after he suffered a shoulder injury against the Denver Broncos in Week 5 and had surgery…
Source : espn
