Steelers vs. Rams: Jalen Ramsey not worried about covering JuJu Smith-Schuster

Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey is not worried about facing JuJu Smith-Schuster. Here’s what he had to say about the Steelers wide receiver.

After a phenomenal 2018 season, JuJu Smith-Schuster has really come back down to earth. There is no doubt that the loss of Ben Roethlisberger has taken a toll on the amount of looks he has received this year. And whether we like to admit it or not, he could really benefit from a receiver like Antonio Brown on the opposite side of him.

Rams Cornerback, Jalen Ramsey, was recently asked to share his thoughts about being matched up against  JuJu this week. He didn’t exactly speak praises of the young wide receiver:

While Ramsey spoke highly of former Steelers All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown, he implied that he covering Smith-Schuster isn’t going to be a big challenge. Here is some of what he had to say when asked about his upcoming matchup against JuJu:

"“Yeah, I matched up with Antonio (Brown) there all the time. Antonio was their number one receiver – not JuJu… No disrespect to (Smith-Schuster), he’s not Antonio Brown… Now I’m going up against a different person, different body-type, different receiver a little bit – he can make plays. But I’m gonna play my game. I’m not really worried about him.”"

Ramsey continued to brush off the notion that JuJu is a number one wide receiver. When asked about going from facing Antonio Brown to JuJu, and if he looked forward to facing all of the receivers in the league, Ramsey replied, “Top receivers, I do.”

Ramsey continued to express that he is focused on himself for this game and not Smith-Schuster. In their last matchup in Week 11 of last season, JuJu didn’t always have Ramsey lined up across from him.

However, the Pro Bowl receiver was able to make a few critical 4th quarter grabs against the All-Pro cornerback as he helped Pittsburgh erase a 10-point deficit to with under four minutes remaining in the game to secure a 20-16 victory in the final seconds. Smith-Schuster finished the game with 8 catches for 104 yards.

While JuJu is on track for just 66 catches, 918 yards, and 6 touchdowns, his production has been at the mercy of a struggling offense and a young quarterback who hasn’t often looked his direction. At the same time, Smith-Schuster is on pace to receiver 64 fewer targets than he did just a season ago.

Jalen Ramsey hasn’t exactly been the same player this year either. Though he was dealing with his share of distractions during the whole trade saga, he is currently just the 75th ranked cornerback in the league, according to Pro Football Focus, with an overall grade of 58.4 on the season.

JuJu has struggled to create much separation this year, and being covered by Jalen Ramsey will be his most challenging test yet. Let’s hope he uses Ramsey’s words as fuel to help bring new life to an ailing Steelers offense.