Should Steelers discipline WR Diontae Johnson?
The Steelers finally topped 400 yards of offense in their Week 12 win against the Bengals. However, one of their players seemed to have a clear lack of effort on Sunday, which has some believing he should face some sort of discipline.
Wide receiver Diontae Johnson didn't look like he wanted to be on the field during a play late in the first quarter. It was a run play by RB Jaylen Warren that resulted in a fumble, but instead of jumping on it, Johnson is seen walking to the sideline.
It stopped what looked to be a promising drive by Pittsburgh's offense, and to make matters worse, he dropped a touchdown on the previous play.
Luckily for Johnson, the Steelers won the game, or he would surely be facing even more criticism from those outside the team.
It certainly wasn't Johnson's best showing of his five-year career and it comes a week after he reportedly "got into a heated post-game locker-room argument" with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick where he had to be broken up by DT Cameron Heyward and LB T.J. Watt.
Johnson told reporters that he didn't see Warren's fumble and that the media was making too much of his post-game remarks last week.
But either way, something must be done about his lazy play on the field and disruptive behavior off it.
Right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor got benched in Week 8 for "acting out" and it's safe to say that Johnson's antics are similar or worse.
It's unlikely Pittsburgh would bench Johnson, who has 30 catches for 385 yards and a touchdown on the season, as the depth behind him isn't ideal. But head coach Mike Tomlin must have a conversation with Johnson, at the least, to understand his recent actions.
More must-reads: