Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson was fined $25,000 by the NFL for his criticism of officials following his team’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pro Football Talk reported Sunday.
“Refs were just killing us the whole game,” Johnson said following the Steelers’ 20-10 loss to the Jaguars on Oct. 29, per ESPN. “… I didn’t like the refs today. They must’ve got paid good today or something, but they blew — that field goal, that hurt us coming into the half. We needed that.”
Johnson was referring to an offside call that negated Chris Boswell’s 56-yard field goal. Boswell missed the ensuing 61-yard attempt.
Johnson, 27, had eight catches for 85 yards in that game versus Jacksonville. He added seven receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown in Pittsburgh’s 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, boosting his season totals to 23 grabs for 302 yards and one touchdown in five games.
A Pro Bowl selection in 2021, Johnson has 363 catches for 3,948 yards and 21 touchdowns in 69 games (60 starts) since the Steelers drafted him in the third round in 2019.
–Field Level Media
