Steelers WR Diontae Johnson not yet cleared from offseason surgery

The second game of the 2019 season was notable for the Pittsburgh Steelers because that was when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left at halftime with a right elbow injury that shelved him for the rest of the year.

That game against the Seattle Seahawks also featured a lesser injury, one that didn’t receive any publicity until the offseason.

Wide receiver Diontae Johnson revealed Wednesday he injured his groin in that game. He played through pain for his rookie season before undergoing sports hernia surgery in February.

Although surgery happened more than three months ago, Johnson said he hasn’t received clearance to resume full workouts as he prepares for his second NFL season.

“Hopefully, I’ll be cleared in the next couple days,” Johnson said on a conference call with local reporters. “I’m just staying on top of that and making sure I’m healthy so I can come back ready.”

Johnson didn’t miss any practices and he was never listed on the injury report because of his groin injury. He suffered a concussion Nov. 14 at Cleveland but returned the following week and was a full practice participant. He played in that week’s game at Cincinnati.

In December, he was limited in practice one day because of an illness.

News of Johnson’s injury surfaced Feb. 6 when he posted a picture on his Instagram account that showed him in a hospital bed. The post was deleted a short time later.

On Wednesday, Johnson offered little specifics about the groin injury. He had one catch for 17 yards against the Seahawks.

“I was running and it felt like my groin got a little tight on me,” Johnson said.

Despite that early setback, Johnson led all NFL rookie wide receivers with 59 catches while finishing sixth with 680 receiving yards and tied for seventh with five touchdowns. He led the Steelers in receptions and receiving touchdowns and finished second in yards to James Washington’s 735.

Johnson was named second-team All-Pro as a punt returner after averaging 12.4 yards on 20 attempts that included an 85-yard touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals.

He has spent the offseason rehabbing at his home in Ruskin, Fla., where he has been using a Pilates machine to strengthen his core.

“That’s been helping me out a lot,” he said.

It is the second consecutive offseason that Johnson has dealt with a lower body injury.

He was bothered by hamstring injuries in 2019 after the Steelers selected him in the third-round of the NFL Draft out of Toledo. Johnson was limited to mainly individual drill work during rookie minicamp and OTAs because of his hamstring issues.

“I was out of shape because I didn’t get to work out like I wanted to,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Being in shape, that’s what they harp on you. Come in and be ready to run. That was kind of hard. I had to get my legs back up under me.”

Now, he must do it again as he awaits a chance to rejoin his teammates for on-field workouts which remain on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I miss it every day just sitting at home not being able to do too much,” Johnson said. “It gets old.”

Johnson has set an individual goal of “at least 1,000 yards” receiving and getting voted into the Pro Bowl. To that end, he has been working on strengthening his hands and improving his route running under simulated conditions.

Once cleared, Johnson hopes to come to Pittsburgh and catch passes from Roethlisberger.

“I’ve got plenty of stuff to work on,” he said, “so I don’t want to just pick those two. I can work on my game all around. … I’ll get through it. The rest of the team is going through it as well. I’m staying out of the way and getting ready.”

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