After making headlines on Saturday over a reported Week 11 altercation with teammate Minkah Fitzpatrick, Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson attempted to clear the air following Pittsburgh’s Week 12 win on Sunday.
NFL fans unexpectedly learned of Johnson’s post-loss locker room dust-up with Fitzpatrick less than a day before Sunday’s 16–10 victory over the Bengals. The quarrel reportedly saw Johnson and Fitzpatrick exchange words before having to be separated by veteran teammates T.J Watt and Cam Heyward.
As the speculation loomed around the team, Johnson took a moment to address the situation and confirm that he and Fitzpatrick, whom he called his “brother,” had worked out their differences and moved on.
“It really ain’t nothing,” Johnson told reporters. “The media’s gonna make [it] something it ain’t. Y’all [are] the outside, looking in. That’s my brother at the end of the day, so, players, we’re gonna be players at the end of the day. [We’re] passionate about the game and everybody wants to win. So, y’all can’t look at it as, ‘Oh, we had an all-out brawl’ or whatever. It ain’t that, so don’t get it twisted, you know what I’m saying?
Diontae Johnson on the heated incident with Minkah Fitzpatrick post-Browns loss: “It ain't nothing. Y'all outside from looking in. … That's my brother at end of the day. … We passionate about the game. Everybody wants to win. So y'all look at it as, oh, we had an all out brawl… pic.twitter.com/S3S28FCFq9
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) November 26, 2023
“Everybody [does] that on each and every team, talk junk to each other,” he added. “We squashed it, we won the game today, that’s all that matters.”
Although Fitzpatrick, who missed his fourth straight game due to injury, did not speak to the media, Johnson’s update strongly indicates the reported incident was more of a spat than a beef between teammates.
With Sunday’s triumph likely boosting team morale overall, both Johnson and Fitzpatrick can press on with their team in its quest to make the playoffs with a Week 13 date versus the Cardinals on the horizon.
