Steelers Sights & Sounds: Johnson, Freiermuth Look Ready to Go

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are getting wide receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Pat Freiermuth back this Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. Johnson has been out of action since the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, while Freiermuth hasn’t played since leaving the team’s Week 4 game against the Houston Texans early. Both players have been sidelined by hamstring injuries.

Both Freiermuth and Johnson were listed as full participants on the Steelers’ injury report for Wednesday’s padded session, and they were back out there running route and participating in a ball security drill with teammates and coaches on Thursday, looking very much like players that are ready to get back to work.

“It’s just exciting to get everybody back,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said on Thursday. “Haven’t had them since the first half of the first game since with everybody coming back. Had a good feeling coming out of camp, so there’s a good feeling being able to be at full strength as soon as we go. …

“You’re talking about you’re bringing back, what was Tae, top five, six, seven targets last year in the NFL? You’re bringing back a guy like Diontae and his route-running capability to do things like that, and obviously, we were down Pat last week, as well. So, you talk about the passing game, just starting there, and it’s going to change a little bit. You’ve got some really good weapons coming out there, and then you’ve got a couple of guys up front getting healthy.”

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While Johnson and Friermuth had no trouble completing the ball-control gauntlet, the coaches got a rare victory by forcing second-year receiver Calvin Austin III to fumble.

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