PITTSBURGH — Despite some encouraging signs to the contrary earlier in the week, the depleted Pittsburgh Steelers offense won’t be getting its top wide receiver back for what is a crucial game this weekend.

JuJu Smith-Schuster will not play when the Steelers host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. The Steelers’ No. 1 wideout left Thursday’s practice early and did not participate in Friday’s session at all, ending hope he would avoid missing a fourth consecutive game because of a knee injury.

“I mean, it’s tough,” Smith-Schuster said Friday, shortly before it was announced via the release of the official injury report that he was out for Sunday’s game. “I’ve never been in this situation like this where I have been out for a long period of time. It’s something that’s definitely new to me, and I am learning myself and how I react to it. It could be frustrating sometimes, but at the same time it’s part of life, it’s part of the game, it’s what comes with this.”

Smith-Schuster has not played since being knocked out of a Nov. 14 loss at Cleveland when two Browns defensive backs delivered helmet-to-helmet hits to Smith-Schuster that also left him concussed.

Though he was cleared from NFL concussion protocol Nov. 27, Smith-Schuster’s knee injury lingered longer than originally anticipated. Smith-Schuster had been wearing a bulky knee brace around the team facility over the past three weeks, and he did not practice until this past Wednesday.

But following full participation in that session, the three-year pro was limited Thursday and did not practice at all Friday.

Smith-Schuster refused to refer to what happened Thursday as a “setback,” instead maintaining it had been determined he was pushing too hard to come back too soon.

“He’s got all the enthusiasm and energy and effort and want to,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. “You know, sometimes injuries take their own time. You’ve just got to keep working through it.”