KC Chiefs’ JuJu Smith-Schuster updates health, reveals what he wants to prove in 2022

Kansas City Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster understands he’s a bit of a contradiction.

This will be his sixth year in the NFL ... yet he’s only 25 years old. Many players in KC’s locker room see him as a long-time pro, yet some of those guys are older than he is.

“At the end of the day, I feel like the vet in the room,” Smith-Schuster said with a smile, “and I’m proud to say that.”

Perhaps at the crux of Smith-Schuster’s “young or old” contradiction, though, is his health heading into his first season in Kansas City.

More than anything, he knows, his 2022 success will likely hinge upon whether he can stay on the field after playing just five regular-season games last season because of a shoulder injury.

So, as he put it Wednesday, a personal goal this year is to prove this: “I still got it.”

“I think last year was kind of like the toll, where, ‘Hey, I kind of fell off.’ Obviously, injuries and stuff like that happens. It’s the name of the game. It happens,” Smith-Schuster said. “At the end of the day, I came here for a reason. I came here to win. I came here to win a Super Bowl.”

That has the best chance of happening, certainly, if Smith-Schuster gets his body to hold up through 17 regular-season games and beyond.

It wasn’t a perfect start this preseason. Smith-Schuster suffered a knee injury in mid-August, which resulted in him missing the team’s final two exhibition games against Washington and Green Bay.

And while Smith-Schuster says his knee is “great” now — telling reporters Wednesday he’s currently 100% — he also talked through the challenge of getting back to full strength compared to previous seasons.

“Just a couple of minor issues. I’ve been playing this game for six years: I’m not the young JuJu you know anymore. I’m getting older. I’m more of an adult, and it takes time (to recover),” Smith-Schuster said. “Like I said, it’s fully healed, and I just can’t wait to play.”

The elements appear to be there for a big year if Smith-Schuster’s health cooperates. He emerged as quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ favorite wide receiver target early in training camp, then also talked about being pleased that he’s able to run a greater variety of routes with the Chiefs than he did with Pittsburgh.

“I just know that everyone’s gonna be everywhere, and everyone’s going to be playing every position: inside, outside, you name it,” Smith-Schuster said of the Chiefs receivers. “It’s just gonna be a lot of things that a lot of people are gonna like see in Week 1. And they’re gonna be like, ‘Wow, OK. This is what the Chiefs are.’”

Smith-Schuster, who signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs in March, says some of the anticipation for Week 1 is simply feeling like he can compete at his highest level. Though he returned for Pittsburgh’s playoff loss at Kansas City on Jan. 16, he says it’s been a while since he’s played in a regular-season game fully healthy.

That’s how he expects to be Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

“I’m just happy to play with this team, happy to play with these guys,” Smith-Schuster said. “Just all excited, all positive vibes.”