Steelers notebook: JuJu Smith-Schuster earns AFC Offensive Player of the Week
The NFL's youngest player, JuJu Smith-Schuster on Wednesday was named the AFC's best offensive player: for Week 8, anyway.
Smith-Schuster had seven receptions for 193 yards, including a team-record 97-yard touchdown reception, for the Steelers in their 20-15 victory at Detroit on Sunday night.
Smith-Schuster is the first Steelers rookie to win the award since Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. He is the third Steelers player to win a conference weekly honor over the past five weeks, joining Cam Heyward (defense, Week 4) and Le'Veon Bell (offense, Week 6).
Smith-Schuster, who turns 21 in three weeks, leads rookie wide receivers in catches (24) and he leads all rookies in receiving yards (424) and receiving touchdowns (four). Sunday's third-quarter catch-and-run was the second-longest receiving play in the NFL over the past six seasons.
A ‘work' day off
Coach Mike Tomlin gave the Steelers something of a day off Wednesday, the final scheduled practice day before a four-day break for the team's bye. The team gathered at Dave & Buster's in Homestead for what was called “a team-building event.”
“The weather was less than ideal today,” Tomlin told the team's official website. “We thought it was a good opportunity to come out and have a little bit of fun, work on the camaraderie element of the team. We realize it's a factor. You can't measure it. Togetherness is going to be an element over the second half of the year for us.”
Brown still sharpening
Antonio Brown hasn't hit his 30th birthday yet. But in his eighth season and still in his prime, Brown is beginning the era of his career where his peers are getting younger and younger.
No problem, Steelers receivers coach Richard Mann said.
“He's always sharpening his tools of his fundamentals of what he does,” Mann said of Brown, who leads the NFL with 57 catches and 835 yards. “Footwork, top of the routes, getting off the ball, stacking people. We work at that all the time in the drills, and when we don't do it, he will come and say ‘Coach, let's stack.'
“As you get older playing receiver, if you've got good fundamentals, you can maintain and still have an edge on people who might have an edge on you as far as age, and I think that's the bottom line: the technique and the fundamentals.”
McDonald, TEs improve
Eleven days before the regular season began, Tomlin's preseason evaluation of his team's tight end corps was this: “The guys haven't been consistently varsity enough for our comfort.”
Midway through the season, the unit's position coach painted a rosier picture.
“I've been impressed,” James Daniel said. “They've worked hard and done a good job, in my opinion.”
The Steelers' three tight ends have combined for 24 catches for 268 yards. Jesse James had two touchdowns in the season opener, the position group's only scores this season.
The Steelers have dressed only two tight ends for five of their eight games. Xavier Grimble was a healthy scratch once, and Vance McDonald has missed two games because of injury.
Acquired via trade just before the Steelers' preseason finale, McDonald (knee) has sat out the past 1½ games.
After an assimilation period into the offense — and a couple of dropped passes — McDonald was beginning to produce in the passing game before his injury. McDonald has three catches, including a 28- and 26-yarder, over a five-quarter span before leaving the Week 7 win against Cincinnati before halftime.
“I think he had to be here for a little while just to learn the terminology and learn everything,” Daniel said. “I think he was feeling a bit more comfortable before he got hurt. Hopefully when he comes back, he will fit right back into that mold.”
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.
