The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their first loss of the season in a 31-17 beatdown by the Seattle Seahawks. After a dramatic win over the New York Jets to start the year, Mike Tomlin's offensive attack looked good. However, rookie running back Kaleb Johnson, made a fatal mistake in Week 2. In the aftermath, Johnson might be off special teams against the New England Patriots.
Johnson's misunderstanding of the kickoff rules resulted in an unorthodox touchdown for the Seahawks. After that, the Steelers never recovered and walked out of their home opener with a loss. Despite the error, Tomlin wants his team to put the game behind them and focus on the Patriots in Week 3. However, he could not get out of talking about Johnson's role on the team.
Pittsburgh took the running back in the third round of the NFL Draft. While the Steelers gave Jaylen Warren a multi-year deal before the regular season, the future of the team's running game is up in the air. Johnson is a good change-of-pace runner who has shown flashes early in his NFL career. However, Tomlin told ESPN's Brooke Pryor that he is unlikely to return more kicks.
“Probably not in the short-term,” Tomlin said. “I'm certainly going to give [Johnson] an opportunity to work his way back from that. I believe in his talent. He's a sharp young man. He's a hard worker, and so you leave the light on for him. You give him an opportunity to move on from it, but he has to do that.”
Johnson is unlikely to forget his mistake for a while. However, the Steelers need to put the loss behind them quickly as Week 3 looms. Both Pittsburgh and New England enter their matchup at 1-1 with a lot on the line when it comes to the rest of their respective seasons. Johnson will have a chance to rebuild his value, even if it doesn't come on special teams.
