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Brooke Pryor, ESPN Staff Writer
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson is expected to be sidelined “a few weeks” because of the hamstring injury he suffered Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday. Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Johnson is “probably unavailable” for the Monday night game against the Cleveland Browns.
Johnson’s injury was one of two significant injuries suffered by Steelers players in the team’s 30-7 blowout loss to the 49ers. Six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Cameron Heyward suffered a groin injury and could miss several weeks, a source told ESPN. Tomlin said Tuesday that Heyward will undergo surgery, but he won’t be able to provide clarity on his timeline for return until after the surgery.
“Obviously losing Cam is significant, but that’s what team is about,” Tomlin said. “Replacing Cam is not a one-man job, man. It is a multiple-man job and a coach’s job because it changes your schematics when you lose significant players. We all acknowledge that, and we all run to that, not away from that. That’s an opportunity for us to show what team is about things that we hold near and dear, like next man up.”
The Steelers’ injury report from the 49ers loss also includes right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor (concussion protocol), tight end Pat Freiermuth (chest), right guard James Daniels (lower body) and Larry Ogunjobi (foot), though Tomlin noted he was more optimistic about their prognoses.
Both Heyward and Johnson suffered their injuries in the first half. After making his biggest play of the day — a 26-yard reception — Johnson appeared to go down awkwardly. He had to be helped off and went back to the locker room after a short evaluation in the injury tent. Johnson picked up 21.5 yards after the catch, per NFL Next Gen Stats, good for the Steelers’ longest play of the day in an offensively stagnant outing against one of the NFL’s best defenses in the 49ers.
Johnson finished with three catches on six targets for 48 yards.
The Steelers are comfortable with their in-house depth to replace both Johnson and Heyward, Tomlin said, but they “won’t turn a blind eye” to outside options.
In Heyward’s absence, the Steelers will turn to a combination of players including Isaiahh Loudermilk, DeMarvin Leal, Keeanu Benton and Armon Watts.
“I thought that was one of the strengths of our group coming out of team development, the depth and competition and the tough decisions that we had to make in the defensive line,” Tomlin said. “It won’t be a long period of time before we get a chance to call upon that. We’ll get a chance to see what that depth looks like in-game.”
Johnson’s injury means more work for veteran receivers Gunner Olszewski, who was inactive for Sunday’s loss, and Allen Robinson II.
“He’s a steady presence, man,” Tomlin said of Robinson. “He’s a professional. He’s highly competitive. I think all of those things were evident on tape, and I don’t think that surprised any of us. I’m sure it’s a reasonable expectation that his role might grow due to game circumstances, particularly if you’re down a significant contributor like Diontae.”
Though Kenny Pickett will be without Johnson against the Browns, Tomlin believes the quarterback can bounce back from his uncharacteristically off-target performance against the 49ers in which he threw two interceptions.
“There’s football justice,” Tomlin said. “When you work at it, man, you generally get good things that come out of it. This is a guy that’s fully committed, this is a guy that works his tail off, and largely, man, those guys create their own fortune.”
After taking over the starting job a year ago, Pickett rebounded from throwing eight interceptions in his first five appearances to throwing just one in eight games after the bye week last season.
Source: www.espn.com