JuJu Smith-Schuster

With most sports around the world on hiatus because of the coronavirus, a group of current and former NFL players got together through the magic of online communication to take part in the first-ever Madden Invitational to raise awareness for the CDC Foundation's COVID-19 relief efforts.

Michael Vick (Baltimore Ravens) and Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James (Seattle Seahawks) met in the championship game, though it wasn't much of a contest. The Seahawks picked apart the Ravens by a final score of 80-16.

No, that score isn't a misprint.

Y’all, @DerwinJames is no joke at Madden…

He defeats @MichaelVick 80 to 16 to win the ESPORTS @EAMaddenNFL Invitational! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/8zWAdJBDC2

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) March 30, 2020

James landed the first of what turned out to be many haymakers with an interception, followed by Tyler Lockett's long touchdown run on a catch from Russell Wilson to go up 7-0. He extended the lead to 21-0 at the end of the first on a Chris Carson touchdown run and an 81-yard punt return from Lockett.

PUNT RETURN TO THE HOUSE! 🔥@DerwinJames is off and ROLLING against @MichaelVick in the championship round pic.twitter.com/BINsQvvl9d

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) March 30, 2020

Vick was able to eat into the deficit with nine straight points late in the second quarter, including a touchdown pass by Lamar Jackson on 4th-and-goal.

Facing heat for the first time in the game, James immediately responded with a 75-yard touchdown from Lockett. His defense stepped up by getting the ball back on the Ravens' next play from scrimmage, with Marquise Blair returning an interception for a score.

James and the Seahawks went into halftime with a 38-9 lead.

🤷♂️ @DerwinJames doing what Derwin James does best pic.twitter.com/L5R8AeMJIh

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) March 30, 2020

The tournament featured Vick, James, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ahman Green, Matt Leinart, Orlando Scandrick and T.J. Houshmandzadeh competing in a bracket-style tournament.

The quarterfinals and semifinals were filmed prior to Sunday's live event. Smith-Schuster received an automatic bye into the semis because his scheduled opponent, Antonio Cromartie, was unable to compete.

Houshmandzadeh, who was playing with the San Francisco 49ers, advanced to the semifinals with a 17-7 win over Scandrick's Dallas Cowboys. Vick rode the Ravens to an ugly 7-6 victory over Leinart and the New Orleans Saints.

James was the star of the first two rounds. He used the Seahawks to beat Green and then picked apart Houshmandzadeh in the semifinals with a 35-14 victory.

Despite the difficult ending to his tournament run, Houshmandzadeh had the best reaction shot of the tournament on this 109-yard interception return for a touchdown:

💯 YARD PICK SIX T. J. HOUSHMANDZADEH ‼️ pic.twitter.com/HoJhQnbamv

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) March 29, 2020

Vick found his stride in the semifinals, knocking off Smith-Schuster and the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-0 to set up the title match. The four-time Pro Bowler had more interceptions (seven) in his first two games than points allowed (six).

🤩 @MichaelVick playing as @Lj_era8 in @EAMaddenNFL is some content we never knew we needed❗️ pic.twitter.com/NNA04uOjNY

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) March 30, 2020

The first two rounds seemed to suggest an epic finale between two elite gamers, but it wasn't meant to be, with James taking complete control of things right out of the gate.

More important than the winner, though, is the good deed done by all involved as the world continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Everyone already knows Michael Vick is one of the greatest Madden weapons in history. On Sunday, we'll get to see if his actual Madden skills compare.

Vick will join other current and former NFL players Sunday for the Esports Madden NFL Invitational, which will benefit coronavirus relief. The event will air on Fox Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET Sunday. 

"We are excited to bring together such a dynamic group of talented individuals to help us create some much-needed sports entertainment in these difficult times," Fox Sports vice president Joe Franzetta said in a statement. "Seeing so many people enthusiastically come together for a great cause in a such a short time is a testament to the human spirit of cooperation that sports exemplify."

Vick will be joined by Matt Leinart, Orlando Scandrick, T.J.Houshmandzadeh, Juju Smith-Schuster, Derwin James, Antonio Cromartie and Ahman Green. The event will be a single-elimination tournament. 

All participants will be playing the game remotely in accordance with social distancing recommendations.

Fox Sports 1 broadcast an iRacing match featuring NASCAR drivers earlier this month after the sport indefinitely postponed its season amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Vick, of course, is a Madden legend after his combination of speed and throwing power made him a human cheat code in Madden 2004. 

Wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mike Evans were among a group of NFL players who put their gaming skills to good use Saturday night.

The two NFL stars took part in a Fortnite tournament in an effort to raise money for the World Health Organization to aid in coronavirus relief efforts.

Live on Twitch playing Fortnite raising money to help fight Coronavirus! https://t.co/qp5RUUUToV

— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) March 29, 2020

Mike Evans and other NFL stars are competing in the @FortniteGame tournament to raise money for @WHO as part of #TwitchStreamAid

Tune in: https://t.co/gPhuH7d0F0 pic.twitter.com/z5eNYpu4rO

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) March 29, 2020

Other players believed to be taking part in the event were Myles Garrett, John Ross III and Kyler Murray.

Twitch announced earlier this week that Saturday would feature a stream-aid event that runs for 12 hours and features athletes and celebrities playing games, along with a number of musical performances.

All proceeds and donations from Twitch Stream Aid will be given to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the WHO.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster played three fans in Madden NFL 2020 as part EA's #StayAndPlay initiative, which was enacted to persuade people to stay home amid the COVID-19 pandemic and play video games.

Smith-Schuster has helped promote the campaign and challenged fans to games on Thursday.

Who wants to play me in Madden? 🧐🧐 Drop your gamertag & console (Xbox/PC/PS4)... ⬇️ #StayAndPlay

— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) March 26, 2020

I’m picking 3 fans now! Drop your gamertag, console, and tweet a video giving me three reasons why I should play you!! 🎮

— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) March 26, 2020

After a blowout opening loss, Smith-Schuster rebounded to take the next two and finish the night with a 2-1 record.

First up was JHall3284, whose Seattle Seahawks crushed Smith-Schuster's Steelers 57-17. The 'Hawks scored 28 unanswered points to start the game and created seven takeaways.

Next up was super_avi 18, who took the Houston Texans against Smith-Schuster's Green Bay Packers.

This one went far better for Smith-Schuster, as a four-catch, 172-yard game from Davante Adams propelled the Pack to a 20-13 win.

Game 3 took part between Esparzadime's Denver Broncos and Smith-Schuster's Carolina Panthers. This game proved to be the most entertaining of the three, with the Panthers taking down the Broncos 24-21 after running back Christian McCaffrey scored the game-winning touchdown on a run up the middle with 16 seconds left.

The Broncos nearly stole the game, however, as a Drew Lock laser to Tim Patrick took the top off the Panthers' secondary. Patrick saw green ahead, but he got caught from behind at the Panthers 9-yard line on the game's final play.

The EA #StayAndPlay initiative will continue tomorrow with former NFL great Chad Ochocinco facing off against fans.

FaZe Clan announced Friday several professional athletes, including the Philadelphia 76ers' Ben Simmons, Los Angeles Clippers' Paul George, Los Angeles Lakers' Kyle Kuzma and Pittsburgh Steelers' JuJu Smith-Schuster, will take part in a Call of Duty: Warzone tournament Monday to benefit coronavirus pandemic relief efforts.

Lee Trink, FaZe Clan's CEO, released a statement about the "Fight2Fund" efforts:

"The constant news feed with COVID-19 updates and safe distancing preventative measures can be stressful and isolating. With Fight2Fund, we're offering entertainment content with a purpose to help address the global pandemic. Fortunately, we were able to move fast in organizing the Fight2Fund Pro-Am Tournament series as it's in our DNA to quickly create content that our community craves and shares. We'll continue this pro-am every Monday and feature new athletes, celebrities, musicians and streamers all in an effort to help in the fight against Coronavirus."

The release noted its first event this week raised $46,289.

Other athletes taking part in Monday's pro-am tournament include the Sacramento Kings' De'Aaron Fox, New Orleans Pelicans' Josh Hart, Miami Heat's Meyers Leonard and skateboarder Shane O'Neill.

Entertainment will be provided by popular DJs Marshmello, Diplo, Alesso and Jauz.

The show starts Monday at 3 p.m. ET on FaZe Clan's Twitch channel.

Each team will play five matches of Call of Duty: Warzone, the recently released battle royale video game, with one point for each elimination and five points for every victory.

The winning team gets to pick a charity to receive 100 percent of the sponsored and stream-donated proceeds.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is worried about his former teammate.

"It's different, for sure," he said when asked if the Antonio Brown who has made recent headlines is different from the one he played with in 2017 and 2018, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

"I'm concerned, like you guys," he continued. "It's a tough situation for a guy if you take away his job and his passion. Being a guy looking from the outside to the inside, he's definitely a different dude than who he was on the field."

The two receivers had notable verbal battles on social media after Brown left the Steelers, including one response from Smith-Schuster that said, "All I ever did was show that man love and respect from the moment I got to the league. I was genuinely happy for him too when he got traded to Oakland w/ a big contract, and now he takes shots at me on social media?"

Smith-Schuster isn't the only one worried about Brown.

"The first thing always is to think about the well-being of Antonio, to understand what Antonio is going through," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters at his Wednesday press conference. "We don't talk about the wellness of our players publicly, but I can tell you that you can be sure that the NFL and NFLPA have tremendous amounts of resources available to all players. They are going to be made available to Antonio."

Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com noted Brown was charged with felony burglary with battery, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and criminal mischief after he was arrested in Hollywood, Florida, for allegedly attacking a moving-truck driver he had hired.

It was the most recent headline for Brown, who also live-streamed video of himself screaming and using profane language at the mother of his children, Chelsie Kyriss, in front of the children. He also called the Hollywood police officers explicit names during the video.

Brown played one game for the New England Patriots during the 2019 season before he was released following allegations of sexual assault. 

Britney Taylor, his former trainer, alleged he sexually assaulted her three times, including one instance of rape. A separate woman also said he made unwanted sexual advances toward her and sent her intimidating text messages after she revealed the allegations.

Antonio Brown targeted former teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster on Twitter one day after the Pittsburgh Steelers' season ended with a 28-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Brown appeared to reference Smith-Schuster's 2019 stat line in the attack:  

https://twitter.com/AB84/status/1211725503297728512

It's the latest twist in an on-and-off feud between Brown and Smith-Schuster, who previously formed one of the league's most dangerous receiving tandems.

Emotion: boy fumbled the whole post season in the biggest game of year ! Everyone went blind to busy making guys famous not enough reality these days ! 🤙🏾 by the way check the list https://t.co/2SWWT8k0jx

— AB (@AB84) April 7, 2019

The situation seemingly stemmed from Brown becoming unhappy in April with a graphic that showed his counterpart as the Steelers' most valuable player last season. The Steelers wideout responded at the time by saying, "Crazy how big that ego got to be to take shots at people who show you love! Smh," per TMZ Sports.

Brown was traded to the Oakland Raiders in March and, after his relationship with the franchise's key figures quickly disintegrated, he was released and signed by the New England Patriots in September. The Pats waived him amid allegations of sexual misconduct. He's remained a free agent while the NFL investigates.

It's been a whirlwind year for Brown, but apparently, he hasn't forgotten about his beef with JuJu.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was removed from the injury report ahead of the team's Week 16 game against the New York Jets on Sunday. 

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported Smith-Schuster was a full participant in Friday's practice and is set to return from a four-game absence that stemmed from a concussion and a knee injury.

The 23-year-old USC product was more conservative about his availability for Sunday:

JuJu Smith-Schuster said his knee isn’t 100 percent and he’s not sure whether he’ll play Sunday.

He did fully participated in practice today.

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 20, 2019

Pittsburgh's No. 1 wide receiver was trending toward a return in last week's loss to the Buffalo Bills, but then his practice participation decreased throughout the week and he was ultimately held out. The Steelers generated just 229 yards of offense in a 17-10 Bills win.

That defeat significantly reduced the team's margin for error to make the playoffs. It must now defeat both the Jets and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17 to guarantee a berth without depending on help.

Getting Smith-Schuster would provide a major boost to those efforts.

While the 2018 Pro Bowl selection has mirror the offense's overall struggles with just 38 receptions for 524 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games this year, he's coming off a breakout 111-catch campaign that established him as one of the NFL's most dangerous receivers.

If he's a surprise inactive Sunday, James Washington and Diontae Johnson would once again split a majority of the looks from quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges without a true top target available.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster reportedly aggravated his knee injury during Thursday's practice and is not expected to play against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Smith-Schuster, who has missed the past three games as a result of the injury, has 38 receptions for 524 yards and three receiving touchdowns on 60 targets for the season. He's the Steelers' most talented offensive player, and despite winning their three games without him, losing him is obviously a big blow against the Bills defense.

The No. 1 wideout exited his team's 21-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 11 in the second quarter because of a knee injury and a concussion suffered on the same play. From a fantasy football perspective, we have examples of how targets and touches may break down in his absence.

                                                                                                             

WR James Washington

James Washington is the team's No. 1 wideout sans Smith-Schuster. He led the team with seven targets at the Cincinnati Bengals, snagging three passes for 98 yards and one touchdown. The score, a 79-yarder, came via the arm of Devlin Hodges, who was inserted into the game in the third quarter and is now the team's starter.

Washington is used to catching passes from ex-Oklahoma State Cowboy teammate Mason Rudolph, who was benched, but the connection with Hodges has worked.

You can also take this picture of the two hunting together as a sign of potential chemistry:

Good morning with @JamesWashington #huntthemorningsonoffday pic.twitter.com/9MxLPKC8Kb

— Devlin Hodges (@DevlinHodges10) November 26, 2019

Washington led the team in targets (11) from the time of Smith-Schuster's Week 11 exit until the final Week 12 horn. He amassed five receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown. Against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13, he caught four passes for 111 yards and one touchdown on four targets, although last week against the Arizona Cardinals he only caught four passes for 33 yards on four targets.

           

WR Diontae Johnson

Diontae Johnson has become the No. 2 on the Steelers' wideout depth chart. The rookie snagged four passes for 42 yards on nine targets in the time Smith-Schuster was out against the Browns and Bengals.

Johnson isn't a big-play threat like Washington, as he's averaged 11.5 yards per reception, but he's a dependable receiver who's turned in some noteworthy games (five catches, 84 yards and a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins, for instance). Last week against the Cardinals, he recorded six receptions for 60 yards and one touchdown on eight targets.

                                  

TE Vance McDonald

On the plus side, Vance McDonald led all running backs, wideouts and tight ends with an 85 percent offensive snap rate against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On the minus side, the tight end only had one catch for one yard on one target to show for it.

McDonald has 33 receptions for 245 yards and three touchdowns this year. In theory, his snap rate and Smith-Schuster's absence should produce more targets, but that hasn't been the case. He has just four receptions for 24 receiving yards combined the past two weeks, with zero touchdowns.

Because of that lack of production, he isn't much of a fantasy option.

               

Summary

Washington is the only Steelers pass-catcher worth rostering, with Johnson a decent bench option in deeper leagues of 14 teams or more. Even then, Washington should only be considered as a flex option at best, especially heading into a matchup with the Bills.

Any Steeler (minus the team's defense/special teams) is hard to trust, so Pittsburgh is largely a fantasy situation to avoid.

Pittsburgh Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is not expected to play on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills after reaggravating his knee injury during Thursday's practice, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Smith-Schuster told reporters Friday that he didn't suffer a setback, noting that he had to "slow [himself] down" as he continued to work his way back:

JuJu Smith-Schuster didn’t practice today, he said. And he doesn’t know when he’ll return. Said it’s up to coach Tomlin. pic.twitter.com/lO1VQ82iKs

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 13, 2019

The 23-year-old has not played since Nov. 14, missing his team's past three games. The Steelers are 3-0 during his absence.

"It's tough, man," Smith-Schuster told reporters Friday. "I've never been in a situation like this where, you know, I've been out for a long period of time, and it's kind of week by week. It's something that's definitely new to me. ... It could be frustrating at some times, but at the same time, you know, it's just part of life, part of the game. This is what comes with our job."

Schefter previously reported Smith-Schuster was expected to make his return against the Bills.

In his third NFL season, Smith-Schuster has seen his numbers take a nosedive amid the struggles of the passing game without Ben Roethlisberger and his own injury issues. He missed three games in November and December with a knee injury before returning in Week 15 against the Buffalo Bills.

"It is frustrating not being out there to help the guys make plays," Smith-Schuster told reporters. "I feel like I'm a huge part of this team, but at the same time, I have to do what's right for my team, for me to get healthy. Our guys can lead us to the playoffs, and hopefully I'll be back in time to contribute to the end of the season or the playoffs."

Overall, Smith-Schuster has compiled 38 receptions for 524 yards and three touchdowns. James Washington will return to the top of the wideout depth chart with Smith-Schuster out of the lineup.