Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson is under the microscope after showing no effort on RB Jaylen Warren’s first-quarter fumble. Warren fumbled the ball away on a 3rd and 2, one play after Johnson was unable to secure the ball in the end zone for a would-be touchdown.
As you can see below, Johnson doesn’t seem to notice the ball bouncing in front of him, turning and walking away as the Bengals recovered and began running the other direction.
Johnson’s frustrations from the play before seemed to carry over to the next snap. Maybe he wouldn’t have been able to recover the ball but perhaps he could’ve made the tackle and reduced the return yardage. Fortunately, Connor Heyward prevented a touchdown, and the Bengals did not put points on the board after the Warren fumble.
It’s been an up-and-down day for Johnson with more downs than ups. While he did have a nice 39-yard reception deep down the right sideline, he was unable to secure the ball on the play before (though former ref Gene Steratore believes it was a touchdown). He’s also run backwards on a second-down reception, and he and QB Kenny Pickett had another miscommunication on a recent third down, a play that looked almost identical to last week.
On the day, Johnson has two grabs for 34 yards. Cincinnati leads Pittsburgh 7-3 midway through the second quarter.
