If JuJu Smith-Schuster's Browns shade wasn't enough to fire up Cleveland ... here's EVEN MORE bulletin board material for the Dawg Pound -- courtesy of ex-Steelers player Ike Taylor!!
TMZ Sports spoke with the former Pittsburgh DB this week ... and when he was explaining Smith-Schuster's "nameless, gray faces" comments, Taylor said JuJu wasn't exactly wrong!
"Well, first of all, there is no rivalry," Taylor said of the Browns vs. Steelers. "You know, the only rivalry when it comes down to Pittsburgh is the Baltimore Ravens. That's the only rivalry we look at."
"We never looked at Cleveland, we never looked at Cincinnati as no rivalry. That's just how it was."
Don't get it twisted, Taylor still has a ton of respect for Cleveland -- he praised Baker Mayfield for his progress -- but he says there's definitely a big brother little brother relationship between the Steelers and Browns.
"It's not in a disrespectful way," Taylor tells us. "It's just if you're a Pittsburgh Steeler, that's how you look at other teams."
The video evidence. “They’re a good team, but…" #Browns https://t.co/578KevTDyb pic.twitter.com/E1NPe9EKjl
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) January 8, 2021
If you missed it, Smith-Schuster spoke with reporters on Thursday and said he doesn't look at the Browns any differently this season compared to years' past when they were awful.
"The Browns is the Browns," JuJu said.
Kickoff for the playoff game is 5:15 p.m. PT in Pittsburgh. Getcha popcorn ready!