Steelers receivers fail to produce in opener, now might have to get by without Diontae Johnson
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After a trio of brief preseason outings during which everything seemed to come so easily for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, in their first game that mattered, that was anything but the case.
How could a unit that looked so unbeatable in August struggle so much during its opener in September?
Typically willing to give a blunt assessment, George Pickens offered an explanation that shouldn’t have surprised.
“It wasn’t a preseason game, for sure,” the young wide receiver said of the San Francisco 49ers’ 30-7 victory Sunday. “They had their starters out there, and that’s probably all I can say, to be honest.”
San Francisco’s starters provided significantly more resistance than, say, the Falcons’ or Buccaneers’ backups. But that didn’t make the drip in production from the Steelers’ wide receivers Sunday any less jarring.
Diontae Johnson, Pickens, Allen Robinson and Calvin Austin combined to average a mere 6.9 yards when thrown to (185 yards on 27 targets). Leaving out Johnson, who left the game because of a hamstring injury after the first offensive snap of the second half, the Steelers wide receivers averaged just 8.5 yards per reception, a figure boosted significantly by a “garbage-time” 31-yard catch from Robinson.
Contrast that to the preseason when the starting three wide receivers (Austin was with the second-teamers) combined to catch nine of 10 targets for 151 yards.
To a man, though, the three healthy first-team receivers insisted the unit is not ready to panic.
“Frustration clouds our vision a little bit,” Robinson said, “so for me I just try to stay even-keeled throughout the course of the game, whether that’s you being up or you being down. You can’t be too high, you can’t be too low, and at the end of the day, it’s the NFL and it’s long (season), so for us it’s just about keeping our mind open and being a solution-based group.”
Solutions for the offense could be much more difficult to come by if Johnson is forced to miss any time. Johnson did not immediately get up after being tackled on the Steelers’ second-longest gain of the day, a 26-yard catch and run early in the third quarter.
Johnson quickly was ruled out of the game. There has been no status update from the team. Johnson was not in the locker room during a 45-minute period of media availability Monday.
“We don’t really know the status of Diontae,” Robinson said, “but whatever happens, across the board I am sure that we will be able to figure it out. Our coaches will let us know the things that they need to let us know, and we will just adjust from there.”
Robinson, as expected, served mostly from the slot during the season opener. Austin largely stepped into Johnson’s role on the outside along with Pickens.
“We have lot of interchangeable parts,” Austin said, “so we moved some guys around to different spots.”
Austin made his NFL debut Sunday after missing his rookie season because of a foot injury. He caught all six of his targets — one was a shovel pass — and gained 37 yards in addition to drawing a pass interference flag that netted 11 more.
Though his diminutive size suggests a slot profile, Austin played much more on the outside during college at Memphis. That’s also where he has taken the majority of his practice reps.
If Johnson cannot play, Gunner Olszewski would figure to be in uniform for the Steelers’ next game Monday against Cleveland. Olszewski was inactive against the 49ers.
Special teams standout Miles Boykin served as the No. 5 WR and played five snaps.
Regardless of Johnson’s status, the Steelers receivers know better production is needed in Week 2.
“I would hope so,” Pickens said. “I would hope the outcomes would be a little different in the next couple of games.”
None of the receivers mentioned it, but film study suggests the problems in the passing game were more attributable to errant throws and/or bad decisions by second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett than receivers being able to get open or make the catch or a run after it.
The receivers insist the offense remains the unit that ended the preseason with so much optimism surrounding it.
“It’s a group that, across the board, offensively we are a confident group,” Robinson said. “And I think we can move in whatever direction is needed.”
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