Through five games of this still-young season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have endured the equivalent of a one-game absence from each of their top four wide receivers.

* Diontae Johnson sat out the Sept. 26 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

* The following week in Green Bay, Chase Claypool was absent.

* Then, James Washington was unavailable this past Sunday against Denver.

* JuJu Smith-Schuster missed about a half each of both the Bengals and Broncos games.

By all indications, the play in which Johnson suffered a knee injury while fighting for extra yardage on the meaningless final play of a Sept. 19 loss to Las Vegas was the final moment of the season in which each of a solid four-man wide receiver group will be intact.

It was reported Monday that Smith-Schuster is scheduled for season-ending shoulder surgery after leaving Sunday’s win against Denver appearing to be in significant pain following an end-around run in the second quarter. Smith-Schuster was taken to a hospital after the game.

“An injury like that you can’t really do nothing about it,” Johnson said Monday, “but (the Steelers) have just got to keep playing. You know he is going to be cheering us on on the sidelines. We are going to keep rallying around him, keeping his head in the game and whatnot, just being there for him.”

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) October 11, 2021

Johnson said he spoke Monday morning with Smith-Schuster.

“Just trying to be there for him and keep his spirits up,” Johnson said.

As a five-year veteran, Smith-Schuster is the senior member of a group that included four players taken with late-second or early-third round picks in successive drafts from 2017-2020. While Washington had become the obvious No. 4 over the past year, the other three each could make a reasonable case of being the Steelers’ WR1.

Without Smith-Schuster, Washington moves into the top three – assuming, at least, he recovers from a groin injury suffered during practice last week. Cody White was promoted to the active roster to team with Ray-Ray McCloud as a complementary Nos. 4 and 5 on the depth chart, and the pressure gets ratcheted up on Johnson and Claypool to be even more of a reliable target for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

“In practice, we don’t just have two guys or three guys – we try and rotate them all in so that we understand what each guy is doing,” Roethlisberger said. “We just feel for JuJu, and ask everyone to pray for him.”

Johnson and Claypool each had a touchdown catch Sunday. For the season, Johnson is second on the Steelers to running back Najee Harris with 25 receptions. He also has half of their six receiving touchdowns.

Claypool, though, leads the Steelers in receiving yards (341) and per-catch average (17.1).

Smith-Schuster over the past two seasons typically has been deployed in the slot. Claypool has been used second-most often at that spot since he joined the Steelers in 2020. Claypool excelled in that role Sunday after Smith-Schuster left the game: He had a Steelers’ season-long 59-yard reception and an 18-yard touchdown catch while running out of the slot.

“Chase can play anywhere on the field,” Johnson said. “Anybody in the receiver room can play anywhere on the field.”

Washington was drafted because of his “combat-catch” and big-play abilities. Though his greatest value is on returns, McCloud has carved out a niche in the offense. White has the size (6-foot-3, 217 pounds) and skill set, and was impressive as a first-year receiver in camp.

All will have to do just a little bit more now.

“Everybody (in the wide receivers room) is capable of playing and contributing to the offense,” said Johnson, who had a team-best 923 receiving yards last season. “So we are not worried about that. We are still going to go out there and play for JuJu.”

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