There has been a lot of focus on the wide receiver position for the New England Patriots in recent weeks. The team was pursuing free agent DeAndre Hopkins, who ultimately decided to sign a deal with the Tennessee Titans.
But, that wasn’t the only wide receiver news that people have been paying attention to for the Patriots. The health of free agent signing, JuJu Smith-Schuster, has been front and center. New England signed Smith-Schuster away from the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this offseason, agreeing to a three-year, $33 million deal.
After playing out one-year deals the last two seasons, Smith-Schuster earned a multi-year pact from the Patriots for his performance last season. He finished second on the Chiefs with 78 receptions and 933 yards, both trailing only tight end Travis Kelce.
But, there were some concerns over when Smith-Schuster would get on the field. He suffered a knee injury during the Chief’s postseason run that was lingering into the offseason. Smith-Schuster ended up missing all of the spring workouts, including mandatory minicamp.
With training camp starting next week, there were questions about whether or not Smith-Schuster would be taking part. According to Nicole Yang of The Boston Globe, there are no concerns as he will be taking the field with his teammates when practice kicks off.
That is great news for the Patriots as Smith-Schuster is going to play an integral role in their offense. He is most likely going to be the No. 1 option in their passing game, which he feels optimistic about.
“You can just feel the atmosphere of the energy getting better,” he said. “I thought at first it was a little bit slow, but now it’s a lot faster. It’s more uptempo, more pace, and it’s really, really nice.”
While he was signed to produce in the passing game, his impact will be felt beyond that. Smith-Schuster also brings elite blocking ability at the wide receiver position. Expect offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien to move him around the formation not only creating mismatches as a pass catcher but to put his skills as a blocker to use in the running game.
