Surpassing 400 total offensive yards aside, much of the talk surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 12 win over the Cincinnati Bengals is about Diontae Johnson.
Blasting of Johnson by the media and former Steelers started Sunday immediately after the play and continued into this week.
Late in the first quarter, Johnson seemingly ignored Jaylen Warren’s critical red zone fumble, which Bengals cornerback DJ Turner scooped up. Thankfully, Connor Heyward made a heads-up tackle that limited the return to 28 yards.
Johnson’s been guilty of emotional outbursts and giving up on a live play wasn’t a good look.
Mike Tomlin addressed the incident during his weekly press conference today.
“Diontae can’t let the emotions of the previous down affect his next down,” Tomlin said.
The previous down was one that’s also been debated ad nauseam since Sunday. Johnson was pissed at himself for the catch that should’ve been a touchdown but wasn’t because he didn’t survive the ground.
“I’ll give him an opportunity to address that with you guys and his teammates,” Tomlin continued. “I think plays like that are best described and outlined by those involved and less so by guys like me. I keep my attention on challenging things, things that await us this week, schematic preparation for Arizona and the readiness of this group.
As for Warren’s fumble, Tomlin simply said, “We gotta take care of the ball.”
It was Warren’s second of the season and third of his career.
