Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson left Sunday’s season opener against the San Francisco 49ers early in the second half with a hamstring injury.
Johnson, on the Steelers’ opening drive of the second half at Acrisure Stadium, caught a short pass from quarterback Kenny Pickett and broke down the right side of the field for a 26 yard gain. As he was brought down, however, Pickett landed awkwardly and then reached immediately for the back side of his right leg after the play died down.
Johnson remained on the field for quite some time while he was being tended to, and was eventually helped off the field and into the locker room. The Steelers then announced soon after that he was ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury.
Johnson finished the game with 48 receiving yards on three catches, which led the Steelers when he went down. The Steelers trailed the 49ers 27-7 at the time, too, after giving up a 65-yard touchdown run from San Francisco to open the second half.
Johnson had 882 receiving yards last season, his fourth with the Steelers, though he did not score a touchdown for the first time in his career. The 27-year-old, who the Steelers selected with the No. 66 overall pick out of Toledo in the 2019 NFL Draft, is in the first year of a two-year, $36.7 million deal with Pittsburgh.
It’s unclear how severe Johnson’s injury is, or how long he will be sidelined. The Steelers are set to host the Cleveland Browns next Monday night.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.