Johnson has sports hernia surgery
Top rookie WR faces 4-6 weeks for recovery
Wide receiver Diontae Johnson, a third-round draft choice who led all NFL rookies with 59 catches in 2019, posted a picture of himself, lying in a hospital bed, on his Instagram account the other day. But he didn’t indicate why he was there.
The reason? Johnson had sports hernia surgery.
It is not known how long Johnson will be sidelined, but several medical websites indicate the normal recovery time when having that type of surgery is 4-6 weeks.
It has been a tough year for some of the Steelers’ top offensive players. In addition to the elbow surgery that ended Ben Roethlisberger’s 2019 season after two games, backup quarterback Mason Rudolph sustained a potentially dangerous posterior sternoclavicular dislocation in Week 16 that required immediate surgery. His recovery time was 6-8 weeks.
Also, running back James Conner and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster missed a combined 10 games and parts of others with various injuries late in the season.
When Johnson posted the photo of himself in a hospital bed, he merely wrote, “Ima Bounce Back.”
Combine prep
The Steelers will begin meeting and discussing what to do in free agency next week before heading to the NFL combine in Indianapolis Feb. 23.
At the top of the list will be determining what to do with outside linebacker Bud Dupree, who is an unrestricted free agent and is expected to receive a franchise tag. Both coach Mike Tomlin and team president Art Rooney II have referred to Dupree as a “top priority” in the offseason.
The period for teams to assign franchise tags begins Feb. 25 and extends until March 10. If they elect to use a franchise tag, teams have until July 15 to sign that player to a long-term contract.
“We have a good idea about where things stand at this point, but we don’t have that concrete information as to whether or not we will tag,” Colbert said. “We always say if a tag is available, it’s something we will always consider. But we’re nowhere near with our final freeagency preparation leading into the draft.”
’I have to do a better job’
Colbert, who turned 63 last month, signed another one-year extension with the Steelers last week that will keep him with the team through the 2021 draft.
But just because he is signing one-year deals does not mean Colbert is thinking of going anywhere else. Earlier this season, there was a report that Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, a former Steelers investor, would like to hire Colbert as his general manager.
Colbert said he and team president Art Rooney II have agreed on the one-year contracts because “that’s where I am in my career.” But perhaps fueling his desire to remain with the team is that the Steelers have missed the playoffs each of the past two years.
“I’m not comfortable with that,” Colbert said. “I have to do a better job. But that’s a personal thing, a personal preference.
“I can say this without any hesitation — as long as the Rooneys and the Pittsburgh Steelers want me to be a part of this organization, and it’s a good thing for our family, we’ll be here. I’m not looking to go anywhere else ever again as long as the Rooneys and the Steelers are interested in me.”