Steelers WR Diontae Johnson Targeting Week 7 Return

PITTSBURGH — Diontae Johnson is getting restless. The Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver has been out of action since a hamstring injury suffered in the Steelers’ first game of the season.

He’s missed three of the four weeks that he has to spend on the injured reserve list, and has seen his team go 2-2 in his absence. Johnson says he feels better, but hasn’t been allowed to practice yet. He’s champing at the bit to get going, though.

When starting quarterback Kenny Pickett went down with an injury during the Steelers’ Week 4 loss to the Houston Texans, backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky went to get warmed up on the sideline.

Johnson was right there, trying to find any way to help his team while he’s on the injured reserve list.

“I’m trying to do anything I can,” he said Monday.

Johnson is still targeting a Week 7 return from his injury. That’s the first game that he could possibly play after spending the minimum of four weeks on the injured reserve list. He is eligible to return to practice next week, during the Steelers’ bye, though he does not yet know when he will be able to.

The Steelers’ early season start has been frustrating for the entire team, as not only has the team failed to perform to expectation, it has lost several key players due to injury.

That has left some of the team’s veteran leaders like Johnson and Cameron Heyward on the sidelines and unable to help right the ship, at least in an on-the-field role. 

It’s left some of them desperate to do anything to help out, even if just means warming up the backup quarterback.