Steelers’ Mike Tomlin brutally roasts his former receiver Diontae Johnson before facing him this week

Mike Tomlin took a brutal dig at former WR Diontae Johnson when asked about his thoughts on facing him for the first time since the trade.

Steelers’ Mike Tomlin brutally roasts his former receiver Diontae Johnson before facing him this week

Diontae Johnson and Mike Tomlin (Via Global Pulse/DK Pittsburgh Sports)

With a 7-2 record, the Pittsburgh Steelers are headed for their next game against the Baltimore Ravens. This Sunday Night Football match is expected to be quite thrilling, not mainly because of the teams being divisional rivals, but because it would be the first game against the former wide receiver Diontae Johnson since Pittsburgh traded him to Carolina in March, who then traded him to Baltimore. 

However, that’s what is on the minds of fans and media, as the Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin stated he isn’t viewing the upcoming game as the first game against Johnson while preparing for the AFC North showdown. While asking Tomlin about it, the reporters didn’t think the head coach would respond by taking a dig at the Second-team All-Pro receiver. 

YouTube video

But Tomlin sure surprised everyone by saying he isn’t thinking much about Johnson ahead of the Week 11 matchup because he didn’t play a big role in the Steelers’ offense. 

FS Video

To be honest with you, I haven’t thought a lot about him. He’s not on a lot of their video, and so at this stage of the week, I don’t know that I’ve weighed what he might mean to the matchup. They’ve got more significant pieces with larger roles that occupy my attention at this part of the week.

Mike Tomlin said via Dov Kleiman

Even though Johnson was not a big part of the Steelers offense, the Ravens are expected to get him more involved in the offensive plays since they acquired Johnson in exchange for draft capital earlier this offseason. 

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Why did the Steelers trade Diontae Johnson to Panthers?  

Since being drafted into the league in 2019, the Pro Bowler spent his entire career playing for the Steelers until the 2024 offseason. After the poor end to last season, the Steelers made many changes to the team including making Tomlin the new head coach. In their attempt to rebuild the team, they traded Johnson to the Panthers in March. 

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin with former WR Diontae Johnson
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin with former WR Diontae Johnson (Via SI)

Really it was simple, man. We traded player for player, we had an opportunity to get [Jackson] We needed some assistance and depth and quality players at that position and so we made the move. They needed Diontae, we needed D-Jack. It was a good exchange.

Mike Tomlin said about trading Diontae Johnson

Since being acquired by the Ravens, the wide receiver has caught one catch for six yards. Although Tomlin does not view Johnson as a threat to the Ravens’ offense, dual-threat quarterback Lamar Jackson and his array of offensive weapons certainly pose a considerable challenge.