Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson addressed a report for the first time Wednesday that he and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky got into a heated argument during halftime of the Week 4 matchup against the Jets.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin benched Trubisky for the second half of that game in favor of Kenny Pickett, and Pickett then started the subsequent two games.
Johnson appeared to confirm the incident with Trubisky, but he said their relationship is good and there’s no bad blood between the two.
“We’re both passionate about the game. Stuff happens during football,” Johnson said. “We’re fine, we talked about it. We made up, better over the whole situation. No hard feelings towards each other. That’s still my guy at the end of the day.”
Per the original report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the receiver apparently yelled at the quarterback to throw him more passes. This came after Johnson missed a pass in the first half, resulting in an interception, and stepped out of bounds during a potential touchdown play. Trubisky then told Johnson his concerns, and the conversation got out of hand.
Although Pickett has taken over as the starter under center for Pittsburgh, Johnson says he still supports Trubisky.
“I’m gonna still keep playing for him, cheering for him,” Johnson continued. “Whatever it is that he needs me to do to help him look good out there, I’mma do it. Like I said, there’s no bad blood between us at all. It’s just us being football players at times and we’re not gonna let that stop us from achieving the goal that everybody is trying to achieve around here.”
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