‘I own up to it’: Diontae Johnson addresses Steelers teammates for effort on fumble play

Regarding the lackadaisical approach heard ‘round the NFL world, Diontae Johnson vowed, “It won’t happen again.”

Three days after fans and analysts piled on Johnson after video showed him giving minimal effort in blocking, attempting to recover a fumble or tackle the Cincinnati Bengals player who did recover it, Johnson on Wednesday said he addressed the situation with his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates.

“It was really just me owning up to what I did on Sunday to the team and just let them know it won’t happen again,” Johnson said before a morning walkthrough at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

“How I feel and how I should go about the situation next time it occurs. I own up to it. I am not perfect. So all I can do is keep moving forward and just play football.”

Diontae Johnson (No. 18) appeared to have a chance at this loose ball, but was not able to make it happen pic.twitter.com/B736lPSx8H

— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) November 26, 2023

The incident that caused a buzz on network studio shows and social media occurred on a third-and-2 snap from the Bengals’ 15-yard line with 4 minutes, 45 seconds left the first quarter of what ended up a 16-10 Steelers victory.

A play after Johnson caught a ball in the back of the end zone but was — wrongly, according to most — not credited with a touchdown when the ball popped out as he was landing out of bounds, Johnson was lined up to the left for a called running play for Jaylen Warren.

Johnson first appeared indifferent to blocking Cincinnati cornerback DJ Turner, and the optics just got worse from there.

As the ball bounced in the direction of Johnson after it was stripped out of Warren’s hands, Johnson’s body language appeared to show no urgency. He walked slowly away from the ball, his left hand adjusting his facemask. Turner, meanwhile, had picked up the ball, and Johnson barely reacted as Turner sprinted past him down the sideline.

“That’s not me as a player,” Johnson said. “That one play doesn’t define me. It never will. I didn’t come up playing football like that. Obviously, it looks bad on film, but from now on, just going forward just be smart. Keep playing to the whistle.”

Diontae Johnson addressed his Steelers teammates on the infamous fumble/effort situation.

Says he still expects to start Sunday.

“I’m not perfect… It won’t happen again… It looked bad on film.” pic.twitter.com/dBISBjtvNi

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 29, 2023

The incident came a week after a verbal altercation that Johnson since has acknowledged with All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick after Johnson was “chirping” Steelers coaches and other teammates in frustration in the wake of a loss at the Cleveland Browns.

Coach Mike Tomlin, during his news conference Tuesday, did not expound too much on the situation engulfing Johnson other than to say Johnson needed to address it personally his teammates.

Those teammates seemed to accept what Johnson said.

“He just told us that’s not him and that it was a mistake by him, and won’t happen again,” center Mason Cole said. “I know ’Tae, and I know it won’t happen again.

“You don’t know what’s going through a guy’s head and what he sees, even though it might look like he sees (a loose ball), you don’t really know if he sees it or not, so I trust Diontae that it won’t happen again.”

Quarterback Kenny Pickett said the team “moved on” after Johnson spoke. Pickett noted that he even targeted Johnson with his first throw after the play in question.

“‘Tae knows how confident I am in him and the type of playmaker he is,” Pickett said. “What the defense tells me to do, that’s where I take the football and he was in the right spot.

”We love ‘Tae. We know he’s going to play hard. It’s all good.”

Johnson’s explanation for the lack of hustle after Sunday’s game was that he did not see the fumble and “was just doing my job blocking or whatever it is.” But at one point Wednesday, Johnson explained the play by saying he did not realize the play was still live.

“If I could make the play again, I would jump on the ball,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he expects to start Sunday. Tomlin gave no indication any discipline was coming.

“It’s not something I tried to do on purpose,” Johnson said. “Nobody is out there just trying to mess up. I’m human just like everybody else out there. It’s my job. I know what I have got to do. I’m not perfect. I’m just trying to make plays. Sometimes things might not go your way or whatever, but I am doing the best I can to just keep playing. And that’s all I can do is just keep trying.”

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