Diontae Johnson Voices Frustrations with Steelers Offense

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson is frustrated with the failing of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense in its 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and really for most of the 2023 season, his lack of connection with quarterback Kenny Pickett and other issues that are surrounding the team.

Johnson and Pickett were notably not on the same page multiple times in Sunday’s game, and Johnson insinuated that was adding to his frustration.

While he stopped short of directly blaming Pickett for the confusion, it seems clear that Johnson feels like he was in the right when the two weren’t on the same wavelength.

“Stuff like that happens. I can’t fault him (Pickett) for that. He’s not perfect, I can’t sit here and blame him. I’m not pointing fingers at nobody. I was frustrated, but you can’t just sit here and blame him. It’s part of the game.”

Johnson isn’t giving up, but he hasn’t been shy about voicing his frustrations, either on the field or in the media.

“It’s frustrating because we know how good we are,” Johnson said. “To just keep starting out the game how we started and we see we aren’t progressing. What do we do? We just keep playing, that’s all you can do. You can’t look for any excuses. We just got to play better.”

He said he didn’t want to discuss the exact reason that he boiled over on the sideline on Sunday. Johnson and wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson were seen jawing with one another, and things got to the point that tackle Broderick Jones saw fit to intervene. Head coach Mike Tomlin also came over to calm Johnson down.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson and coach Frisman Jackson argue on the sideline against the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 19, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

“Y’all seen the game,” Johnson said. “I shouldn’t have to say anything about it.”

Johnson said there’s no magic formula to improve. They just need to get back to work at practice.

“Like Coach T always tells us, it’s nothing mystical,” Johnson said. “We’ve just got to play better.”