Patriots' JuJu on Knee Rumor: 'No Ticking Time Bomb'
Refuting the national narrative and a local rumor, New England Patriots' No. 1 receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said this week that his surgically repaired knee is from a "mess" and, in fact, improving every day. He added that he feels confident he will be close to 100-percent healthy by the time the Pats open the season Sept. 10 against the Philadelphia Eagles in Foxboro.
“I don’t think my knee is a ticking time bomb,” Smith-Schuster told MassLive after Wednesday's practice at Gillette Stadium. “If anything, it’s something that’s getting stronger every day.”
During a recent appearance on NBC Sports Boston, respected Sports Illustrated writer Albert Breer sounded the alarms about Smith-Schuster's long-term availability to New England's offense this season.
"The underrated story here: JuJu Smith Schuster’s knee is a mess, and that thing could explode at any point,” Breer said. “So, you almost have to keep an extra receiver because of that.”
Smith-Schuster acknowledges problems with his knee, which was injured in last year's AFC Championship playing for the Kansas City Chiefs. He left that game in the third quarter and - thanks only to the two-week gap - recovered enough to catch seven passes for 53 in the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory over the Eagles.
“After the AFC Championship, my knee was sore. I couldn’t walk for a couple of days,” he said, “I didn’t practice until a couple days before the Super Bowl. Then I went out and performed, and performed pretty well. Great, actually.”
After the season Smith-Schuster had what he called "clean-up" surgery on the knee. After a long flight to Japan, the knee swelled and delayed his rehab process. He missed Patriots' OTAs but participated in every day of training camp.
Like a lot of New England's offensive starters, his playing time was limited in the preseason and he caught only one pass for one yard from quarterback Mac Jones.
The Pats essentially "traded" last year's leading receiver, Jakobi Myers, for Smith-Schuster, signing him to a three-year, $33 million contract in free agency. Since they were spurned by DeAndre Hopkins and have again put second-year receiver Tyquan Thornton on injured reserve, the Pats and new offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien are counting heavily on play-making and production from Smith-Schuster.
Said Smith-Schuster: “I think the Patriots signed me because of what I’m truly capable of doing.”
