Diontae Johnson is owning up to his lack of effort in the middle of the Steelers' matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals ... saying he addressed the situation with his teammates and vowed to do better moving forward.
The 27-year-old wide receiver faced a ton of backlash for seemingly giving up in the middle of a play during Pittsburgh's 16-10 win on Sunday ... with game footage showing him appearing uninterested in going for the ball after Jaylen Warren fumbled in the first quarter.
Diontae Johnson all hustle team pic.twitter.com/JXuzO1oI8E
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) November 26, 2023
Johnson spoke with reporters about the now-viral lowlight on Wednesday ... and he's looking to get past the whole ordeal.
"I addressed the situation with my teammates," Johnson told the media. "They know how I feel and how I feel about the situation. I'm not perfect. All I can do is move forward and just keep playing football."
Diontae Johnson addressed his Steelers teammates on the infamous fumble/effort situation.
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 29, 2023
Says he still expects to start Sunday.
“I’m not perfect… It won’t happen again… It looked bad on film.” pic.twitter.com/dBISBjtvNi
Johnson -- who was pissed he messed up on a potential touchdown catch on the previous play -- explained he does not want to be judged based on one moment ... and he promised to prove it with his play from here on out.
"One play doesn’t define me," he added. "It never will. I didn’t come up playing football like that. It looks bad on film. From here on out, going forward, just be smart, keep playing to the whistle."