Good news for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite missing Thursday’s practice with a hamstring injury, WR Diontae Johnson confirmed to reporters Friday that he will play this weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He said he was held out yesterday as just as a precaution, per the PPG’s Brian Batko.
As Batko’s tweet and video note, Johnson is practicing today. Per Batko, Johnson said he felt “a little tightness” but it was unrelated to his Week One injury.
Activated off IR last week, Johnson played well in Week Seven against the Los Angeles Rams, catching five passes for 79 yards. He showed the ability for the big play post-catch with a great YAC catch in the second half of the win over the Rams. He practiced fully Wednesday before sitting out Thursday, causing some to wonder if he had gone backwards similar to TE Pat Freiermuth, who landed on injured reserve after aggravating a hamstring injury.
Johnson was placed on IR after Week One due to a hamstring injury suffered against the San Francisco 49ers. He and George Pickens will function as the top two options in the Steelers’ offense and will remain in those positions for Sunday’s game against an underrated Jaguars secondary. For the season, Johnson has eight catches for 127 yards across essentially seven quarters of football.
The Steelers will release their final injury report later Friday. Pittsburgh and Jacksonville kick off Sunday at 1 PM/EST.
