It’s most likely fair to say that few Pittsburgh Steelers fans expected Kaleb Johnson’s career to get off to such a rough start. He’s hardly contributed on offense, and his efforts on special teams have been underwhelming, leading into Week 2.
Then disaster struck when the rookie third-round pick made the mistake that sealed the Steelers' fate against the Seattle Seahawks. It happens. The Steelers won in Week 1 because of a special teams mistake committed by the New York Jets.
But unlike Xavier Gipson, who the Jets released after his kick return fumble, Johnson gets to stick around with his team. He just won’t be contributing as much, since head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday he wouldn’t be returning kicks in the short term.
Ben Roethlisberger suggests Johnson is in bigger trouble than the Steelers are letting on
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, however, seems to think that Johnson is getting benched in every manner, suggesting it could be some time before he sees the field again.
“Unless injuries or something happen, we may not see him again the rest of the year,” Roethlisberger said recently on his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. “There’s a chance. I don’t want to just call it a doghouse, but that’s tough. It’s a tough place, a tough situation. But you know the rules.”
Tomlin said on Tuesday that Johnson would have to work his way back to his role as a kick returner, but didn’t say much about his chances as a running back. He hasn’t gotten many through the first two weeks. He has just two carries for -1 yards with only four offensive snaps.
Still, Tomlin acknowledged the care required from his decision to ensure he doesn’t snuff out Johnson’s confidence completely.
“I don’t think you get to the National Football League without having faced some adversity as a player and responding appropriately,” Tomlin said on Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “He’s a young guy and, so, I’m certainly going to watch him closely. I expect him to rebound, I expect him to roll his sleeves up and go to work and to wait for his next opportunity.”
Of course, Roethlisberger is speaking from league experience that a rookie can find himself in the doghouse and have little room to get out. Rumors circulated of a similar experience for Roman Wilson last year as he struggled to stay on the field.
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There’s no denying that Johnson hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations. He hasn’t done much with the ball in his hands, and he’s made two dangerous mistakes in what few opportunities he has received.
To his defense, Johnson didn’t return kicks often back at Iowa. Still, most fans see him struggling to find running lanes in the return game, failing to break tackles in the open field, and, of course, making mental mistakes. It’s tough to trust him as a ball carrier for the offense if those are easily apparent in the kicking game.
Still, not that the Steelers have necessarily indicated that it will be the case, but benching Johnson for the remainder of the season in every capacity seems hasty and counterproductive. Johnson is a rookie, and he needs reps to build his comfort as a professional and his confidence as a player. He certainly doesn’t need to sit out for an extended period of time when the team invested an early pick on him.
Like Tomlin said, Johnson will get another chance when the appropriate time comes. Hopefully, in the meantime, Johnson is taking the proper steps to make sure he can capitalize on that chance when it comes.