Mike Tomlin was impressed with the way wide receiver Diontae Johnson handled his benching in the first half of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-15 loss at Buffalo on Sunday night.

After dropping passes on the Steelers’ first two possessions, Johnson didn’t see the field again until the second half.

Johnson leads the NFL with 12 drops.

“I thought he responded appropriately,” Tomlin said. “He didn’t pout. He waited for his next opportunity and, when his next opportunity came, he was productive.”

Given a reprieve in the third quarter, Johnson caught three of his four passes in the second half and totaled 40 yards. His 28 snaps were the fewest Johnson has played in a game in which he has been healthy this season.

Tomlin apparently will give Johnson a clean slate Monday night when the Steelers play the Cincinnati Bengals with a chance to clinch the AFC North title perhaps at stake.

“We will move forward,” Tomlin said.

A week after playing 31 snaps, his fewest in a 10-game span, rookie Chase Claypool played 38 at Buffalo, yet he finished with just three catches for 15 yards. Tomlin admitted Claypool’s reduced involvement in the offense could be attributed to the lengthier NFL season than rookies are used to in college.

“I’m not acknowledging that he has,” Tomlin said when asked whether Claypool has hit the so-called rookie wall, “but I’m acknowledging that there is a potential for that, and one of the ways you help a young man work through that is to reduce his number of snaps, which is what you see us doing.”

The beneficiaries of the reduced playing time for Johnson and Claypool were JuJu Smith-Schuster, who played all 57 offensive snaps, and James Washington, who was on the field for a season-high 81% of the offensive plays.

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