Anmelden » JuJu Smith-Schuster chose his words carefully.

Smith-Schuster was trying to find some middle ground between being appreciative for Antonio Brown’s influence while also acknowledging things should be considerably calmer for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019. The prolific but petulant Brown now is catching passes in Oakland following a high-profile divorce that included Brown taking thinly veiled public shots at Smith-Schuster.“The chemistry is on point Will Grier Jersey ,” Smith-Schuster said Wednesday. “Everyone is on the same page. Everyone is communicating. There’s really no — how do you say? — drama in our locker room.”At least not the kind Brown manufactured with regularity during his final two seasons in Pittsburgh, ones that coincided with Smith-Schuster’s ascent from the youngest player in the NFL to first-time Pro Bowler. Brown’s influence played a major role in Smith-Schuster’s rapid development, lessons Smith-Schuster will hold close now that he’s the longest-tenured wide receiver in the room.“I think everyone picked it up, not only us as receivers but everybody on the team,” Smith-Schuster said. “They all see how AB worked. They seen how he came out here every day and he just ran hard, 100 percent.”It’s all the other stuff — from Brown’s occasional social media meltdowns to his hot/cold relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — that Smith-Schuster and the Steelers want to avoid going forward. Replacing Brown’s production on the field will be almost impossible. He’s the only player in NFL history to have six straight seasons with at least 100 receptions.Yet Smith-Schuster is optimistic the group Brown left behind — one that includes second-year man James Washington, free agent signee Donte Moncrief, and third-round pick Diontae Johnson to go with Eli Rogers and Ryan Switzer — can still be effective. Oh, and do it quietly.“There’s so much motivation for everyone,” Smith-Schuster said. “You think about last year, having AB and Le’Veon (Bell) and this year not having those two guys, two great players. I think for this year we’ve got guys like Moncrief, James Conner, it’s his time now. It’s always been his time. We always want to rock with what we got in the locker room, so at the end of the day, whoever is in that huddle, 11 man, that’s what we’re going to rock with.”Every band, however, needs a lead singer. With Brown gone, the gig now falls to Smith-Schuster. While stressing offensive production is a “collective” of all 11 players on the field http://www.carolinapanthersteamonline.com/christian-miller-jersey , he’s also well aware the spotlight is on him following a season in which he caught 111 passes for 1,426 yards.“He’s going to have an awesome challenge ahead of him for this year and I think he’s ready for it,” Roethlisberger said.Smith-Schuster doesn’t have much of a choice. He believes he’s prepared for the spotlight and doesn’t think his age — at 22 and heading into his third pro season, he’s still the youngest receiver on the roster, born a few months after Johnson — will be an issue.“Being a young guy in a room, being 22, I feel like a French bulldog, you know, just barking at everybody,” he said. “At the same time, they’ve got dogs too, so they can bark. I like that role.”It’s one Smith-Schuster is intent on filling in his own way. Where Brown became increasingly adversarial and closed off during his tenure in Pittsburgh, Smith-Schuster is a giddy livewire.For proof look no further than his rollicking Instagram account , one he doesn’t use to vent his frustrations — a Brown staple — but rather highlight his “YOLO” (You Only Live Once) philosophy. If he’s not shooting selfie videos of him dancing in his car, he’s hosting a water balloon fight , walking his dog Boujee, or looking for someone to play Fortnite with.His free-spirited touchdown celebrations made him an instant fan favorite when he broke into the league in 2018. But Smith-Schuster stressed he won’t let the rise of his own stardom get in the way of the bigger picture. He has no plans to get caught up in trying to match whatever numbers Brown puts up in Oakland this fall. Yes, gaudy statistics are nice. They’re also not the point.“I’m looking at mine, my own team, how we do and how we win,” he said. “I’m fine. I would take five catches for 30 yards and win the game than have 10 catches Jordan Scarlett Jersey , two touchdowns. It’s not really about myself at the end of the day. It’s about the Super Bowl.”That’s a destination the Steelers believe remains within reach even with Brown on the opposite coast. Replacing him will be a group effort, one now led by a chatty, amicable and confident third-year pro who is intent on making sure his ego doesn’t get in the way.“There’s no need for me to go out of my way and yell at the guys,” he said. “We’re all adults here. We all know what’s right from wrong and everyone just works. Everyone has a voice in a room. It’s not just mine.” ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Russell Wilson won a wild-card game with Seattle as a rookie, a Super Bowl in his second season and another NFC championship the third time around.The best Dak Prescott can hope for with the Dallas Cowboys is to join Wilson on that list of title winners in his third year, a quest that will start with the first playoff meeting of quarterbacks with quite a bit in common.Both were mid-round draft picks who became instant NFL success stories. The difference is that Prescott lost his first playoff game after guiding the Cowboys to the top seed in the NFC two years ago, then had to wait two years for his second chance. It comes in a home wild-card game Saturday night.Article continues below ...“When you say success of a quarterback or a quarterback’s success depending on what they do in the playoffs, I think that’s where the checks are written and they make their money,” Prescott said. “Our job is to win no matter what happens, no matter how you played individually. At the end of the day, it’s to get the job done.”When Wilson finally missed the playoffs in his sixth season last year, the Seahawks were eliminated on the final weekend — after they bounced Prescott and the Cowboys from contention with a road win in Week 16.Seattle was 0-2 this year when the season turned on a 24-13 win over the visiting Cowboys (10-6), with the Seahawks following a familiar formula from their Super Bowl days: an efficient Wilson, strong running game and playmaking defense.The Seahawks (10-6) kept it up despite overhauling the roster, mostly notably dismantling key pieces of the “Legion of Boom” defense. An important exception has been linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was just selected an All-Pro for the fourth time in five seasons.“The great thing about this team is the fact that everybody was telling us we couldn’t,” Wilson said. “It shows the heart of this team and it shows the mindset of this team to be able to think the way that you want to think and the places that you want to go. To think big, to believe big.”Wilson was a third-round pick out of Wisconsin in 2012 and won the job in his first training camp. Prescott was drafted in the fourth round out of Mississippi State four years later and became the starter after preseason injuries to Tony Romo and backup Kellen Moore.In his first three years, Wilson won more games than any other NFL quarterback with 36. Prescott just finished tied for fifth on that list with 32. Two quarterbacks have an NFL-leading 24 games with at least a 100 passer rating in their first three seasons: Wilson and Prescott.Now it’s time for their third — and most meaningful — meeting, with Prescott looking to beat Wilson for the first time.“Dak had a phenomenal year to get started and get rolling and has just been solid since Greedy Williams Jersey ,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “I think it’s the dynamics of the mobility that when you add that together, and of course they can both throw the ball way down the field. You’ve got the same kind of problems.”RUN FIRSTBoth teams figure to try to control the pace with their running games. Ezekiel Elliott just won the NFL rushing title for the second time in his three seasons, and Chris Carson heads a group of Seattle backs that led the NFL in rushing. The Cowboys were 10th, fueled by Elliott, and have had a top-10 defense most of the season led by pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence and young playmaking linebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch. Dallas was fifth against the run.“We’re feeling great,” Elliott said. “I believe we have the best defense in football and a pretty good offense, a lot of weapons. I think we have the right recipe to make some noise.”WILD-CARD STREAKSeattle has won six straight wild-card games, a streak that started when Romo, a first-year starter and still the holder, flubbed the snap on a potential go-ahead field goal in the final two minutes of the Seahawks’ 21-20 home win during the 2006 season. Oddly enough during this streak, Seattle has lost every time in the divisional round.ORIGINAL LINEWith left guard Xavier Su’a-Filo listed as doubtful because of an ankle injury, the Cowboys are likely to have this season’s original starting offensive line before Su’a-Filo replaced injured rookie Connor Williams and kept the job.The starters are left tackle Tyron Smith, Williams, center Joe Looney, All-Pro right guard Zack Martin and right tackle La’el Collins. Looney has filled in all year for four-time Pro Bowler Travis Frederick, who was diagnosed with a nerve disorder during the preseason.SETTLED IN WEEK 3The Seahawks settled their offensive line in the first Dallas meeting with their best rushing game to that point. A key addition was right guard D.J. Fluker, who sat out Week 17 to nurse a nagging hamstring injury but will play. Left guard J.R. Sweezy is questionable with a sprained foot.Both teams have had issues protecting their mobile quarterbacks. Prescott (56 sacks) and Wilson (51) were among the four QBs dropped at least 50 times this season.