Baltimore Ravens WR Diontae Johnson is on his third team this calendar year—and one wonders how long that lasts. The Ravens yesterday announced a one-game suspension for the former Steeler, citing conduct detrimental to the team. In a statement, they disclosed that Johnson refused to check into the team’s last game despite being active.
Sunday marked Johnson’s fifth game with the Ravens since they traded for him from the Carolina Panthers. The suspension makes a lot more sense of the curious comments the team made about his playing time after the game. The Steelers got CB Donte Jackson in exchange for Johnson when they traded him to the Panthers. Carolina turned around and accepted a late-round swap. And at this point, it looks like the Ravens may have overpaid for Johnson. At least to some around the league that doesn’t come as a surprise, according to Aditi Kinkhabwala on 93.7 The Fan.
“How many times can you go through something like this, and how many times can you be defended? And how many times can you say, ‘Well, there were extenuating circumstances’?”, she said of Diontae Johnson following his most recent behavior. “I was talking to another general manager—I won’t name names—at one of my games shortly after this [trade]. The general manager sort of intimated, ‘I wonder if they really did their research’, re: the Ravens”.
One might think that the Ravens know Diontae Johnson well, but that seems only to extend onto the field. Given the current predicament, it’s fair to wonder if they did their homework on his off-field issues. As his post-Steelers saga continues, it further enlightens his tenure in Pittsburgh. Is this another example of Mike Tomlin getting the most out of a disruptive personality for as long as is tenable?
Even with all of the background, it is still surprising to hear that Diontae Johnson refused to enter a game for the Ravens. Perhaps there is more context to the story, or it’s a matter of pride, given his limited usage. Earlier this year, Steelers OT Broderick Jones drew headlines for saying he felt like he shouldn’t be playing if he wasn’t starting.
But it’s not as though everything we hear about Johnson is universally negative. He still has good relationships with his former Steelers teammates. After playing Pittsburgh, he said Tomlin told him he missed him. Yet here he is on his third team this year, serving a suspension for insubordination. So what exactly is going on?
Kinkhabwala noted that Johnson’s teammate in Carolina, veteran WR Adam Thielen, praised Johnson and his character as a teammate. At least publicly, everything seemed to be going well in Baltimore initially, as well. They kept talking about ramping up his usage and being excited about him being more involved.
And then this happened, and one has to wonder what happens next. I do not believe the Ravens will release Johnson, and I might elaborate on that at a later time. But is this more of the same mercurial, problematic behavior born out of frustration, or is there more going on? That’s not really for Steelers fans to worry about—but it certainly is of concern for the Ravens. Which is why it’s intriguing to know what kind of background work they did on Johnson before bringing him in.
