It's Words of Wisdom Helping Steelers Diontae Johnson Overcome the Rookie Wall
PITTSBURGH -- 15 weeks through an NFL season is a long time for any rookie. As the college playoffs are on the horizon and college football is quickly dimming to an end, the athletes playing in their first year in the pros are adapting to the longer campaign.
Steelers rookie receiver, Diontae Johnson, is no different. In fact, a rookie out of Toledo, Johnson has never played a football season this long in his life.
"I'm hitting the rookie wall or whatever but I'm still putting through," Johnson said. "My teammates are telling me how to get through. I'm tired overall but I'm still going to play my heart out for my teammates, can't let that be excuse so I just got to take it one day at a time."
Johnson described his physical condition as "tired" 15 games into the season. Competing in every game for the Steelers this year, Johnson's numbers have seen a wave or hits and misses, but for a third-round pick he's contributed as much as any team would hope.
His 545 yards and 4 touchdowns are second for Pittsburgh, and his two-touchdown performance against the Arizona Cardinals sparked the team to it's eighth win of the season.
Johnson says the team is playing with something to prove. The offense has been deemed forgettable and their season expectations aren't necessarily high in the eyes of those outside the locker room.
"We've got a chip on our shoulder," Johnson said. "Obviously we wanted to win that game so it's sort of the deal or whatever, but we just need to come out and do our job because there's still a lot of football left. We're just looking forward to this Sunday."
The rookie wall may be impacting his body but Johnson is using the help of his teammates to minimize the effects it has on his game. Inside a younger receiving core of JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington, Johnson has mentors around him that aren't strangers to impact a longer season has on the body.
Their advice is to keep his body strong. A part of the game many overlook, the players inside the locker room are constantly paying attention to how they treat the machines they put on the field each Sunday. Something Johnson is taking seriously after words of advice.
"Keep taking care of my body like I've been doing because you're going to have little injuries that nag you," Johnson replied to the words of advice his teammates are giving him. "It's just what you do to maintain them so you don't keep lingering."
It's little things like concentrating on food intake and how much water he drinks. Nothing crazy, but something that Johnson has learned quickly he needs to take serious in the NFL.
"Preparation, I didn't really take it serious in college," Johnson laughed. "Practicing hard, eating healthy because you've you got to eat healthy to give your body the right nutrition, and also drinking a lot of water."
