One play after having his touchdown taken away by officials, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson showed his frustration on the field. Johnson hauled in a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals only to have the official call it incomplete, which was the wrong call.
On the next play, running back Jaylen Warren fumbled on a carry and as you can see from the video below, Johnson made no effort to go after the football. In fact he made no effort even before the fumble and after he saw what was going on. It was scooped up by Bengals cornerback DJ Turner and tight end Connor Heyward made a touchdown-saving tackle.
This is embarrassing… Look at #Steelers Diontae Johnson at the top of the screen.
Total lack of effort – a week after fighting teammates and coaches, what is wrong with Johnson?pic.twitter.com/1u6kkb1xjShttps://t.co/XCrz8KOsiT
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 26, 2023
Fortunately, the Bengals could not turn the fumble into points but it’s still not a great look for Johnson. He’s been guilty of some emotional outbursts lately but we have a hard time getting too down on him for still trying to shake off the play before. Should Johnson have made more of an effort or did he even recognize the play was happening?
