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JuJu after playoff loss: 'I don't regret saying what I said' about Browns

Joe Sargent / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster called out the Cleveland Browns before their wild-card matchup, and Sunday's upset loss at home didn't make the wideout recant.

"I don't regret saying what I said. They came out ... today wasn't our night," Smith-Schuster said following the Browns' 48-37 victory, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "Hopefully, the same Browns show up against the next opponent and do what they did tonight and have a great game."

Smith-Schuster on Thursday appeared unimpressed by Cleveland making the playoffs, saying the Browns remained the same team that has struggled mightily in recent years.

But Cleveland stunned Pittsburgh on Sunday, handing its divisional rival a demoralizing loss that included a 28-0 Browns run in the first quarter.

After going to the locker room trailing 35-10, the Steelers scored 27 points in the second half but failed to complete the comeback.

"It was, 'What more bad things can happen to us?' It was, 'We've got to make a play,'" Smith-Schuster said of his first-half mindset. "(Quarterback) Ben (Roethlisberger) was calling plays to make it happen ... we couldn't make it happen. Our guys did not quit. We fought to the end of the whistle. We played our ass off."

Several Browns players addressed Smith-Schuster's pregame comments after the tilt, including star defensive end Myles Garrett, who said his team felt "disrespected" ahead of the contest.

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