Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson hasn’t been seen well in the media the last few weeks for various reasons. Last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, Johnson missed an opportunity for a touchdown due to officials ruling the pass incomplete when it likely should have been a touchdown. This caused Johnson to lose his composure and put forth poor effort as a blocker the next play on a Jaylen Warren run. He failed to put a hand on a guy and after Warren fumbled, he stood around as the defense took the ball the other way. Johnson also got into it with S Minkah Fitzpatrick in Pittsburgh’s previous loss to the Cleveland Browns, reportedly needing to be separated by OLB T.J. Watt and DL Cameron Heyward as frustrations boiled over in the locker room following the humiliating defeat.
In Sunday’s loss at home to the Arizona Cardinals, Johnson irked some fans yet again after scoring a touchdown late in garbage time, putting together a little dance with Pittsburgh well out of range for a comeback. Johnson’s former teammate QB Ben Roethlisberger came to his defense on Monday morning, during a guest appearance on The DVE Morning Show.
“I love Diontae,” Roethlisberger said on The DVE Morning Show. “I think Diontae is a great teammate. I think he’s a great, great hard worker. He’s a really good football player. I think he is frustrated, which I imagine a lot of guys are frustrated, and guys…they speak and act differently when they’re frustrated.
“And so, you can’t fault a guy for being frustrated. He wants the ball; he wants to help. He knows how talented he is. We all know how talented he is. He’s as good as a get-open separation guy at the top of routes as I’ve been around. I mean, sideline guy AB [Antonio Brown] might have been the only guy I know that’s been better on the sideline. So, I just think there’s frustration there. I don’t think it’s an issue of who he is as a person.”
The book that we’ve gotten about Johnson in the past is that he is a tireless worker, putting in tons of time and effort into his craft. The third-round pick out of Toledo back in 2019 was commended for his nuance as a route runner, being praised as one of the best route runners he’s seen coming out of college by the late Darryl Drake. Pittsburgh’s former wide receivers coach also complimented Johnson for his character as a tremendous young man who has a passion for the game of football as well as being a good teammate in the locker room, having banged the table for Pittsburgh to take him at 66th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Johnson has made some bone-headed decisions in the past, including his recent actions against Cleveland and Cincinnati. However, that shouldn’t speak to the man that Johnson is. He comes across as a mild-mannered, genuine dude who simply cares about football and wants to be the reason his team is successful. The state of Pittsburgh’s offense would upset most receivers (just look at WR George Pickens earlier this season). Still, the true sign of growth and wisdom is being able to control those emotions and not lose your composure in moments. That is something that Johnson, as well as Pickens and other receivers across the league, can struggle with when they feel like they are not making the impact that they should be.
Johnson still has some growing up to do be become that respected veteran leader on this team. However, his issues are far more minuscule than someone like Antonio Brown, who blew up on his way out of Pittsburgh and left a trail of drama and bad publicity wherever he went after. Frustration shouldn’t define Johnson and who he is as a person, because frankly, we all do stupid things when we are frustrated, just like Roethlisberger mentioned. Still, it is on Johnson to take those incremental steps forward and commit to improving his emotional control, becoming more level-headed as someone who can lead both with his play on the field as well as his demeanor off it.
