Things could be going better lately for Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson. The veteran was on a nice little run after returning from an early hamstring injury, but frustration, disappointment, and bouts of a poor attitude have since largely dominated these final weeks of November.
Though he caught four passes for 50 yards on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, including a 39-yard grab, the play everyone is talking about is one on which he wasn’t supposed to be involved—until he was. It came one play after he had a touchdown catch negated by the on-field officials.
Obviously disappointed over having the touchdown taken from him and perhaps also by the Steelers turning to a run play on the next down, Johnson showed no effort on his blocking assignment and was paying no attention to the play as RB Jaylen Warren fumbled. Said assignment, CB DJ Turner II, is the one who recovered the fumble and returned it 28 yards, Connor Heyward making a possibly touchdown-saving tackle.
Needless to say, the incident has been quite a topic of conversation, and former Steelers CB Ike Taylor shared his thoughts yesterday on Johnson’s overall attitude and effort in recent weeks. “Give me all that enthusiasm when he was trying to get that contract”, he said on the Bleav in Steelers podcast.
A 2019 third-round draft pick, Johnson signed a two-year, $36.71 million contract extension in 2022. He proceeded to set an NFL record for the most receptions in a single season without scoring a touchdown, a year after making the Pro Bowl and having a career year.
“He understands exactly what I’m saying”, Taylor added. Though he gave him a pass on the “dropped” touchdown, he did allow that the great ones finish plays and don’t allow them to be put in positions where it becomes the judgement call of an official. He also said that he wasn’t going to question Johnson’s effort.
“Diontae’s got to look himself in the mirror and he can answer all them questions on his own”, he said. “I just know the great ones, they don’t see enough of the bag. They feel like they don’t do enough on the field. They feel like they’re always leaving something”.
Truth be told, Johnson is not always the most active participant when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands or anticipates it may be coming is way. Describing his efforts in blocking as inconsistent is being charitable, in contrast to WR George Pickens.
“That’s why we love GP so much if you’re a Steelers fan”, Taylor said. “GP knows even if he’s not getting the ball, he’s gonna do something that we’re not asking receivers to do often but he’s willing to do. And when you’re willing to do something that has nothing to do with you but for the sake of the team, that’s what we look at.
“That’s where the effort part comes in. For me I would just tell Diontae, give me everything [you showed] before you got the bag. Give me all the effort before the bag came”.
Johnson is second on the team behind Pickens with 385 receiving yards on the season, catching 30 passes with one touchdown. He missed four games after suffering an injury in the opener. In his first three games back, he went 5-79, 8-85, and 7-90, culminating in his first touchdown in far too long.
Then he caught three passes for 33 yards on 12 targets over the course of the next two weeks, during which time he reportedly got into it with Minkah Fitzpatrick. The following week was—well, this week and everything we’re talking about now.
