The altercation between Diontae Johnson and Mitch Trubisky has all but been confirmed.
Johnson was asked about the reported dustup that took place during halftime of the Week 4 loss to the Jets -- the same time Trubisky was benched in favor of Kenny Pickett. While he didn't come straight out and confirm something happened, he spoke as if it was already common knowledge.
"I don’t want to get too much into detail. We’re both passionate about the game. Stuff happens during football. We’re fine. We talked about it. We made up over the whole situation. No hard feelings towards each other," Johnson said. "That’s still my guy at the end of the day. I'm still going to keep playing for him and cheering for him. Whatever it is that he needs me to do to help him look good out there, I'm going to do it. There's no bad blood between us at all. It's just us being football players at times. We're not going to let that stop us from achieving the goal that everybody is trying to achieve around here."
Trubisky denied the media's request to speak with him Wednesday.
According to the report, Johnson yelled at Trubisky over his lack of receiving targets, but Trubisky fired back at Johnson. Pickett was subsequently inserted and started the second half against the Jets, and Mike Tomlin stuck with him as the team's starting quarterback. Trubisky filled in during the 20-18 win over the Buccaneers when Pickett left the game with a concussion, and the veteran quarterback was a central figure in pulling out the victory.
Regarding whether he believes the altercation was the catalyst for the change at quarterback, Johnson said, "I'm not worried about whoever they put in there. I'm just trying to do my job, win games and make plays."
Johnson spoke highly of Trubisky's performance after the win over Tampa Bay, which probably explains why he spoke openly about a scuffle that nobody in the locker room confirmed prior to Wednesday. And just to make sure the air was clear, Johnson doubled down on everything.
"Like I said, there's no bad blood between us. Never was. Never will," Johnson said. "We're both passionate. It's football. Like I said, we're not going to let that get in between us. We're both trying to win games. That's what we're going to continue to do."
Tomlin was asked about the altercation during his Tuesday press conference. While his response began as if he was going to shut it down, he eventually suggested it might have happened by not confirming nor denying it.
"Do you think that I will share with it you this environment? Probably not," Tomlin said. "Our business is our business. I understand in today’s climate oftentimes there’s leaks of our business hitting the street, but I’m not going to acknowledge it or confirm it or deny it in these settings. I’m just not. I ain’t got enough hours in my day for it. The things that happen among collectives from time to time is normal business. Everyone wants to win. If it transpired, it’s good. It probably means there’s a couple of guys that wanted to win. If it didn’t transpire, it probably means that it should have because we are aggressively pursuing victory. And sometimes that’s emotion."
ON THE INJURY FRONT
• The Steelers are on track to regaining some of their players from the injured list. Kenny Pickett (concussion), Levi Wallace (concussion) and Pat Freiermuth (concussion) were all full participants in Wednesday's practice. Cam Sutton (hamstring), Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring), Minkah Fitzpatrick (knee), Myles Jack (ankle), Mason Cole (foot/ankle), James Daniels (ankle) and Chris Wormley (ankle) were all limited participants. The only two Steelers who did not practice were Steven Sims (hamstring) and Larry Ogunjobi (knee).
• Regarding Pickett's performance in practice, Johnson said, "He looked good. It didn't seem like there was something wrong with him. It seemed like he was locked in. It was normal Kenny out there bringing the same energy he brings every day. ... I feel like he's going to be ready to go."
