Steelers Pro Bowl WR provides promising injury update

The Steelers had several key players suffer injuries in their Week 1 loss to the 49ers, including WR Diontae Johnson, who is expected to miss up to four weeks with a hamstring injury. But he gave a promising update on his injury Thursday.

Johnson said there's no concrete timeline for his return, calling it "day-to-day," but added he's doing better after not being able to walk for the first couple of days and has been doing some light running at practice. 

A decision is yet to be made about whether he will be placed on IR, which would sideline him for at least four weeks.

Wide receivers George Pickens, Allen Robinson II and Calvin Austin III will see their roles grow in the absence of Johnson, who thinks the offense will be just fine.

"Our receiver room's got great guys around, a great quarterback," Johnson told reporters. "I'm just worried about me being around, being that presence for them just to show that I'm there for them even though I'm not on the field."

Although Pittsburgh's 30-7 loss to San Francisco wasn't pretty, Pickens, Robinson II and Austin III did step up with each player posting at least five catches for 35 yards.

However, the Steelers will certainly need to make some more splash plays against the Browns in Week 2 if they hope to avoid starting the season 0-2. 

That, of course, also comes down to the play of QB Kenny Pickett, who struggled in Week 1 and was docked for a career-high 10 "bad throws." It will certainly take a group effort to fill the void left by Johnson, who is hopefully back sooner than later.