The Steelers are sitting at 2–1 after squeaking past the Patriots 21–14. But don’t forget how close they came to a perfect 3–0, thanks to Kaleb Johnson’s infamous kickoff blunder against Seattle. That one play helped the Seahawks roll to a 31–17 win, and Tomlin didn’t hold back.

“It’s poor judgment by a young player.” Clearly, that mistake is still lingering in his memory. In the Steelers’ recent media availability, Mike Tomlin opened up on his plans for Kaleb Johnson for the Dublin game vs the Vikings. “We’ll see,” Tomlin said firmly. “Sometimes, when you have mistakes, you gotta take a step back. But I’ve been pleased with his approach to business and work….I think he’s positioned himself to be a contributor this week. But certainly, those decisions don’t happen in a vacuum….But he certainly won’t be back there on kickoff returns.”

It might seem harsh. But considering the magnitude of that mistake, it’s not really surprising. Let’s recall how it went down. Steelers down 17–14, Jason Myers nails a 54-yard field goal, kickoff comes up… and Johnson basically lets it bounce past him into the end zone. Thinking it’s dead, he casually strolls to the sideline. Meanwhile, Seattle’s still playing, backup George Holani scoops it up for a touchdown. And just like that, it was 24–14 for the Steelers. Well, he wouldn’t have been wrong to think the ball’s dead up until a few months ago.

Thanks to the NFL’s new kickoff rule, any ball that lands between the goal line and the 20-yard line and rolls into the end zone (case in point) has to be returned or downed by the receiving team. Miss that, and congratulations: it’s suddenly a live ball anyone can scoop up. And apparently, no one told Johnson about that rule. “If I wasn’t sure, if I was sure, it doesn’t matter,” Johnson said. “I still got to do what I got to do, and I still got to go in there and execute the way it needs to be executed,” he added.

It wasn’t entirely his fault, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t face the consequences. No kickoff return duties for him vs the Vikings. If that’s fair or not, that’s up to you to decide. But let’s take the return blunder out of the picture for a second.

Johnson’s rookie season hasn’t started off well

Sure, Kaleb Johnson’s botched kickoff return made all the headlines. But he hasn’t been great outside of it either. That mistake might’ve put a mask on what has been a rather slow start to his rookie season.

He had almost zero impact in the first two games of the season. The rookie accounted for just one carry for -2 yards vs the Jets.. Next week, against the Seahawks, he recorded one carry for a yard, right before the kickoff return. He also returned three kicks for 59 yards in the game, per SI.

Week 3 against the Patriots saw him get demoted from special teams duties, and he had no involvement in the offense, either. And according to Tomlin, he still won’t get the special teams job back, but he might contribute a little in the offense. And if you kept up with the Steelers‘ training camp, this shouldn’t be too big a surprise for you.

All offseason, Johnson has looked a little unsure of himself. And that Seattle meltdown? Yeah, that didn’t help. Back in Iowa, he was a star, and after Najee Harris left, he was supposed to step in and become a key piece of the Steelers’ offense. So far, though? Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan.