Let me tell you what isn't going to happen: Steelers dynamic wide receiver Diontae Johnson isn't getting benched.
He isn't losing snaps.
Ben Roethlisberger isn't going to start to target someone else in lieu of Johnson.
Got all that? OK, good. No we can advance with everything.
I mean, there is one way it could happen and it would have to happen like this: Johnson would have to drop a pass, then fumble the ball away after he caught his next one then drop a pass wide open in the end zone, then probably drop another one. And then another drop.
He does that and mayyyyybe Steelers coach Mike Tomlin will contemplate having Johnson standing next to him on the sidelines for a while.
But we all paid a healthy amount of consideration and shot to attention on Tuesday when Tomlin bellowed about the all-of-a-sudden butterfingered ways of not just Johnson, but many members of the receiving corp. He said: "They can catch the ball or they can get replaced by those that will catch it."
All well and good --- but it was largely a hollow claim if you are looking at this thing practically and your name is Diontae Johnson.
Now, if I'm Eric Ebron I am probably worried if I get slippery-fingered I won't get anywhere near the amount of targets (11) that I did in the Washington game.
Come to think of it, why in the world is Eric Ebron getting targeted 11 times to begin with --- even if he would be secure with his hands?
Using Ebron as a volume receiver is a failed notion.
Some of those targets should be going to JuJu Smith-Schuster and certainly to Chase Claypool and James Washington.
But back to Johnson …
When Tomlin offered that proclamation about dropping balls and such, it seemed as if it was a loud and clear message to Ebron and Johnson.
Or was it? Says here there might be some meat in Ebron's direction but there just can't be any in terms of Johnson.
Know why? He's too valuable.
Johnson also does things that no other Steelers receiver can really do when he's on top of his game as he offers those joystick-type moves and has the ability to get out the door on one of those tunnel screens and hit it all the way home.
His wiggle is glorious.
He can make people miss in a phone booth.
Johnson just needs to clamp down on catching that damn football.
Simply, even with the drops (unless they get to the point I described above) you have to live with the wishy-washy ways of Johnson's game. To wit, even with the drops against Washington he still led the team in receptions with eight.
He leads the team this season in targets, yards, yards per game and yards after catch --- and he missed a game.
So maybe you perked up and your head rose. Perhaps Mike Tomlin made you take notice when he seemingly put Johnson on notice about clanging balls off his hands.
Whole lotta nuthin' I tell you. Whole lotta a nuthin. Word soup.
Johnson certainly has a cases of the dropsies, but the potential positive in what he brings overrides it.
His playing time isn't shrinking.
