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New England Patriots wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster had a bounce-back year of sorts last season. It was his best year since his second season.
That earned him a sizable contract in the last free agency market, but since leaving the Kansas City Chiefs for the Patriots, he hasn't repeated. It hasn't helped that he has missed a couple of games with injuries.
When is Smith-Schuster coming back to action? What is his fantasy football outlook when he returns? Let's dive in.
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JuJu Smith-Schuster Latest Injury Update - December 21
JuJu Smith-Schuster (ankle) was a limited participant in practice on Friday. Oftentimes, a player who is limited at practice all week and classified as "questionable" can still end up suiting up. However, that wasn't the case for Smith-Schuster last week. He was able to log limited practices each day of the week leading up to the Pats' Week 15 game against the Chiefs, but he still was not able to play.
That was the third game Smith-Schuster has missed this season. He was held out of games in Week 6 and Week 7 after suffering a concussion in Week 5.
JuJu Smith-Schuster Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Smith-Schuster (ankle) still is not healthy enough to log a full practice. The former Chief was disappointed he missed his revenge game against his old friends. He said before the game that the Patriots were "most definitely" capable of beating the Chiefs and that they liked to showcase what they could do.
If Smith-Schuster logs a full practice on Thursday or Friday, he will probably play this week against the Denver Broncos, another team from the AFC West that is favored to beat the Patriots. As it is the Sunday Night Football game this week, it would be a showcase win with most of the country viewing it. But should you start Smith-Schuster even if he is healthy?
JuJu Smith-Schuster Fantasy Football Outlook
JuJu Smith-Schuster had his best game of the season in Week 14, catching four passes for 90 yards in New England's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. But that was only his second game all season in which he surpassed 50 yards. Can you really rely on Smith-Schuster?
He has only had six games in which he caught more than one pass, and he has been limited to a single catch in five games. He is more likely to be limited to fewer than 20 yards than he is to catch three or more passes. In fact, Smith-Schuster has not finished as a top-24 WR once all season, and he has only finished as a top-36 WR twice.
One thing holding him back has been the poor quarterback play of the New England Patriots. Mac Jones was always going to be a downgrade from Patrick Mahomes, but Jones has played even worse than most had expected. Instead of building on his second year, he completed fewer of his passes for fewer touchdowns and threw more interceptions as a rate of his pass attempts than any year in his career. He played so poorly that he got benched for Bailey Zappe, who hasn't played well either.
While the Denver Broncos are an average defense with areas that can be exploited, the Patriots aren't the team to do it. Do not start JuJu Smith-Schuster this week even if he is healthy.
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