The Kansas City Chiefs return to the field for a game that will count against the standings beginning this Sunday.
The team will travel west to battle the Arizona Cardinals with a healthy mix of veterans and rookies on both sides of the ball. One of the newest veterans on the team is wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster readying to play his first official game as a member of the Chiefs.
The former Pro Bowler hopes the new surroundings will revitalize him this season as he seeks to shake off his injury-riddled 2021 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Entering his sixth season, Smith-Schuster will be viewed as a leader for the receivers in Kansas City, and he addressed that on Wednesday with reporters.
“Yeah, I mean (the) majority of guys in that room, they’ve been on big stages before,” Said Smith-Schuster. “You got MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling) coming from the Packers where he’s played on big stages. You got Mecole (Hardman), who’s already been on big stages. Obviously, me coming from where I came from (Pittsburgh Steelers), we all played on big stages, so the first game, like I said, people have butterflies, people have that nervousness, but that’s normal for humans. At the end of the day, I just think it’s great for all of us to go out there and just show what we’re here to do.”
Smith-Schuster was an explosive draft pick for the Steelers in 2017 and had fond memories of his first NFL game. The veteran wideout discussed his recent conversation with rookie receiver Skyy Moore ahead of his debut on Sunday.
“A lot, a lot like I mean, I come to find out, you know, Skyy’s he’s a local Pittsburgh guy,” said Smith-Schuster. “But you know, those experiences I felt, you know, he’s going through the same thing this morning where we was talking about he was like, ‘Is it gonna be a different type of energy Week 1? I’m like, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing, Skyy, you’re doing great.’ And I can say he’s super excited. He’s just, you know, happy to be here, and to get going.”
The Chiefs will have many players making debuts on Sunday as the new season gets underway. How the receivers perform will be something that the fans monitor weekly with excitement for what the future holds.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbwa53mtds520q2 player_id=none image=https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=135915]