Steelers Diontae Johnson injured at end of the Raiders game
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson was helped off the field by two people following a knee injury on the final play of the game against the Raiders today.
“Last play of the game, Diontae hurt his knee. It’s being evaluated,” Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in his post-game press conference.
If he has to miss time, the loss would be significant for the Steelers since Johnson was off to such a good start to his 2021 season. Against the Raiders, Johnson hauled in nine catches for 105 yards.
Check out the catch below that he made against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1.
That’s some serious toe drag swag from Johnson. Not to mention incredible concentration on the football after it was tipped.
Johnson has been a target vacuum for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
In 2020, the Steelers peppered Johnson with targets, he racked up 144 targets. He hauled in 88 catches for 923 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. In 2019, he hauled in 59 catches for 680 receiving yards, while bringing in five touchdowns.
A dynamic special teams player as well, Johnson led the NFL in punt return average in 2019 (12.4 yards per return).
He became just the third Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver in franchise history to catch 50 or more balls in their rookie campaign.
Other injuries of note
Mike Tomlin also noted that Steelers linebacker/defensive end Tyson Alualu fractured his ankle and will be out for an “extended amount of time” according to NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala.
Diontae Johnson college stats
Johnson was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He played for the Toledo Rockets in college and hauled in over 2,200 receiving yards during his time there. In 2018, he was named MAC Special Teams Player of the Year. The Florida native was also named first-team All-MAC as a wide receiver and punt returner in 2018, too. The 5-foot-11 receiver scored a total of 28 touchdowns in his college career. A dynamic kick returner, Johnson racked up 1,849 yards and two touchdowns for his entire college career. In terms of all-purpose yardage, he piled up over 4,400 yards in his Toledo career.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be back in action next Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. EST and the game will be televised nationally by CBS.