Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster didn't hold back as he recently fired at the Cleveland Browns ahead of their Wild Card round matchup on Sunday. He boldly claimed that their division rivals are “the same Browns team I play every year.”
In response to Smith-Schuster's comments, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett also didn't shy away from letting his feelings be known ahead of the matchup.
“We’ll have to prove it when we see them on Sunday,” he said via Akron Beacon Journal.
For the final game of the regular season, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin opted to rest his key players in quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, linebacker T.J. Watt, and defensive end Cam Heyward heading to the playoffs. The Browns then took advantage of their absences and successfully carved a narrow 24-22 victory to punch their ticket to the postseason for the first time in 18 years.
However, the Browns also suffered huge blows as defensive end Olivier Vernon recently went down with a ruptured Achilles injury. Head coach Kevin Stefanski along with four assistant coaches will also be unavailable against the Steelers due to their recent contraction of the COVID-19 virus.
More players headlined by left guard Joel Bitonio, safeties Ronnie Harrison and Jovante Moffatt, along with receiver KhaDarel Hodge will all be ruled out of the game due to positive cases. Meanwhile, the availability of both cornerback Denzel Ward and nickel back Kevin Johnson is still uncertain after spending the recent week on the team's reserve/COVID-19 list.
Despite having a depleted lineup, the Browns just gained some added motivation to come after the Steelers thanks to JuJu Smith-Schuster's comments. Expect Myles Garrett to be at the forefront of his team's bid to eliminate their rivals as they look to go all-in on the must-win game on Sunday.