JuJu suspended; Tomlin mum on Shazier
PITTSBURGH — The NFL has suspended Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and Cincinnati Bengals safety George Iloka for one game for separate hits delivered during the same drive in Monday night’s game.
The players will appeal the suspensions that were handed down by Jon Runyan, the vice-president of the league’s football operations.
Smith-Schuster peeled back to block Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict in the upper chest during the Steelers’ tying touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
Running back Le’Veon Bell had picked up a first down off a second-down checkdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger. Near the end of Bell’s play, Smith-Schuster blocked Burfict at the Pittsburgh 49 and stood over the prone Bengal. Smith-Schuster was penalized for unnecessary roughness and taunting. The first penalty was declined, but the taunting put the Steelers in a second-and-16.
Roethlisberger overcame the setback with five completions in the next six plays, ending with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown, who took a brutal blast in the face from Iloka.
The Steelers went on to win the game, 23-20.
“He shouldn’t have stood over him,” Mike Tomlin said of Smith-Schuster after the game.
Tomlin stood by that position Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
“His actions after the hit are more disturbing than the hit itself,” Tomlin said. “He’s a better sportsman than he displayed after the block. You have to acknowledge that. He has to work hard so people understand what type of man he is from a sportsmanship standpoint. That’s not something that is going to happen overnight. That is just the reality of plays like that.”
In Runyan’s letter to the league’s NFL Network, he made it clear Smith-Schuster, a rookie, was being suspended for a combination of the hit and the taunt.
“Your conduct following the hit fell far below the high standards of sportsmanship expected of an NFL player,” Runyan wrote.
Smith-Schuster tweeted at 12:49 Tuesday morning that “I don’t have any intentions to hurt anyone when I play football. I didn’t mean to hurt Vontez Burfict, I just wanted to throw a block for my teammate. I apologize for standing over him and that isn’t me. Praying he gets better.”
The hit wasn’t nearly as vicious as the one Iloka put on Brown, who somehow managed to hang on to the ball for the tying touchdown. Iloka was suspended for “violently striking a defenseless receiver in the head and neck area.” He’ll miss the Bengals’ game against the Chicago Bears.
Smith-Schuster will most likely miss Sunday night’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Roethlisberger, on his weekly radio show on 97.3 The Fan, was asked about the Iloka hit and became philosophical in his answer:
“People get all over me for saying that you’ve got to contemplate each year on whether you want to keep going. I think things like this make you really evaluate things. I think that’s why I say it’s a smart thing to do. It’s a violent game, and this game between them always seems to be that way. That’s what I think is one of the most worrisome things, when you go into this game, is the extra injury.
“I think that hit on A.B. was maybe the worst one of the night. JuJu’s was obviously in the realm of the game. I don’t think it was a cheap shot by any means. Cheap shots are when you hit someone away from the play, you go low on someone. He’s trying to block a guy who’s probably going to make a tackle. I think and really believe he was just trying to help a teammate out, being a selfless guy.
“So many times we talk about receivers not blocking for running backs, not making the extra play, that they just want to catch. Well, on that particular play he’s trying to do more than just catch a ball. He’s trying to make a block. Did he go a little high? Yes. Did he just happen to graze the helmet of Burfict? Yes. So therefore it’s an illegal hit.
“I will applaud the effort by JuJu, and I told him afterward, I said, ‘Listen, love the effort, love how you’re trying to help your teammate get open. Standing over a guy? Uncalled for.’ And he knew it. I think he knew right away. He genuinely felt bad about that. He was not trying to hurt anybody. He was trying to play football.
“Look, Burfict’s not a small guy, and you’ve got to be careful when you go low and chop a knee down. It’s not an easy thing for a receiver to block a big guy, so I truly believe him when he says he wasn’t trying to do anything intentionally to hurt somebody.”
Tomlin provided no update on Ryan Shazier. Tomlin’s leaving the medical explanations to doctors, who are waiting for the swelling to subside in Shazier’s back before making an announcement. Shazier lost feeling in his lower body after making a first-quarter tackle. He was taken to a local hospital, and it’s been reported that he began to regain some feeling, and that progress in the next day or two will determine whether he’ll make a full recovery.
“I’d imagine at the appropriate time those that are responsible for his care will give you a reasonable assessment of where he is,” Tomlin said. “I imagine that could occur as soon as later today, but from my perspective, obviously, it was a tough evening. Ryan is a trooper. Had an opportunity to spend some time with him. He’s in really good spirits. Tough guy. He’s got great support with family and loved ones there. It was painful to kind of get on that plane last night, but that’s life. We realize and understand that he is in really good hands and is getting expert medical care. He also challenged us to move on with what it is we need to move to and he’s with us as well. With that being said we’ll do that.”