FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots have a long history of signing players whom Bill Belichick worried about defending while they were with other teams.
You can add JuJu Smith-Schuster to that list.
New England last month landed the 26-year-old receiver on a three-year, incentive-laden contract. Smith-Schuster didn’t play against the Patriots last season while with the Kansas City Chiefs, but he faced New England three times — including one playoff game — over his five campaigns with the Steelers.
During one of those games, a 2018 matchup in Pittsburgh, the Patriots sent double teams at Smith-Schuster while limiting him to four catches for 40 yards and zero touchdowns. The strategy wasn’t surprising, considering Smith-Schuster a year prior racked up six catches for 114 yards against Belichick’s defense.
The performance in 2018 was one of Smith-Schuster’s worst in a career-best season that saw the USC product compile 111 catches for 1,426 yards and seven TDs. It made Smith-Schuster realize that Belichick considered him a dangerous offensive threat, a belief the Patriots head coach clearly maintains today.
“When I was in Pittsburgh for five years, we crossed paths multiple times,” Smith-Schuster said of Belichick during a Tuesday afternoon news conference at Gillette Stadium. “I respect his game. One thing I’ve learned playing against Bill, is that if he ever double-teams you, obviously you’re a key player in his eyes. So, I think back then when he was doing that, I saw it as, ‘OK he respects my game. He respects me.’
“Being able to circle back around in Year 7, to be here, kinda shows that he still has that for me.”
Smith-Schuster never has replicated the production he enjoyed in 2018. Although undeniably a good player, and a potential upgrade over Jakobi Meyers, Smith-Schuster doesn’t profile as a weapon who will strike fear into the heart of opposing defenses.
Nevertheless, Belichick respected Smith-Schuster’s abilities in the past and likely has big plans for the versatile receiver in 2023.
