Rookie running back Kaleb Johnson is quickly learning that there are consequences for big mistakes like the one he made in the Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
In the fourth quarter of the 31-17 loss, Johnson went to retrieve a kickoff but whiffed on the ball, which led to it bouncing past him and into the end zone. However, the rookie didn't bother to chase after it.
The problem was that the kickoff bounced in the landing zone and was a live ball thanks to the new kickoff rules. That meant the Seahawks could pounce on it and recover, which they did in the end zone for a touchdown.
"Poor judgment by a young player," head coach Tomlin said after the game.
We wondered if that gaffe would cost Johnson his job, and as it turns out, it will.
Tomlin said on Tuesday that Johnson would be removed from the kick-return role, at least for the short term, so he left the door open for the rookie to eventually get that job back.
"Probably not in the short term," he said of Johnson returning kicks. "I'm certainly going to give him an opportunity to work his way back from that error. 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 and give him an opportunity to move on from it. But he has to do that, he has to display that with his daily work and he's got to earn himself back in a position to be a participant."
Pittsburgh released its latest depth chart on Tuesday and Johnson was still listed as one of the two kick returners, along with running back Kenneth Gainwell. It looks like the Steelers have an edit to make.
It has been a brutal start to the season for the third-round pick, as he hasn't had any role on offense early on. Johnson has seen just two carries and four offensive snaps. He isn't even playing that much on special teams, with the Iowa product seeing 11 snaps there.
It wasn't clear if Johnson simply didn't know the rule or just had a brain fart. When asked after the game, he did not give a direct answer.
But Tomlin did.
"Every day of our lives," Tomlin said when asked if the Steelers practice that kind of situation.
Truth be told, it never made much sense to have Johnson as a returner. Not only does he have little experience (15 returns in college), he is also more of a power runner, a quality that isn't a great fit for returns.
Whatever the case may be, Pittsburgh will now be looking for a new returner with Johnson out of a job and the rookie will look to find another way to make an impact, although it's hard to see how he's going to do that exactly.
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