Steelers' Kaleb Johnson Must 'Earn Himself Back' After Kickoff Mistake, Tomlin Says

Following rookie kickoff returner Kaleb Johnson's blunder in Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, it sounds like the Pittsburgh Steelers are ready to give the job to someone else.

Per ESPN's Brooke Pryor, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Johnson "probably" won't be returning kicks in Week 3, adding that he needs to earn the job once again.

"I'm certainly going to give [Johnson] an opportunity to work his way back from that," Tomlin said in his weekly news conference. "I believe in his talent. He's a sharp young man. He's a hard worker, and so you leave the light on for him. You give him an opportunity to move on from it, but he has to do that. He has to display that with his daily work, and he's going to earn himself back in the position to be a participant. And so we'll see where the rows lead us. I'm open to it, certainly."

Johnson's gaffe came in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game, as he allowed a kickoff from Seattle's Jason Myers to bounce over his head and into the end zone, appearing to expect the play to be called dead. However, Pryor pointed out that the NFL's new kickoff rules state that any ball that lands between the goal line and the 20-yard line and goes into the end zone is a live ball unless it is returned or downed by the receiving team.

With the ball laying in the end zone, Seahawks backup running back George Holani recovered it for a touchdown. It was a key moment as Seattle went on to win 31-17 to hand Pittsburgh its first loss of the 2025 season.

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Johnson admitted fault for his critical error after the game, saying, "I just made a mistake. Got to stick to it, move on, and just continue to get better every day."

Tomlin said Tuesday that the team has not yet made a decision on who will replace Johnson on kickoffs for Sunday's game against the New England Patriots. Veteran running back Kenneth Gainwell is the Steelers' other return man, and practice squad running back Trey Sermon handled kickoffs in the preseason. Second-year receiver Roman Wilson also has some experience as a kick returner from his college days at Michigan.

Tomlin added that he's looking forward to how Johnson responds to his first taste of adversity in his rookie year.

"You've got to man up, you got to acknowledge your shortcomings, and then you got to work to move beyond it," Tomlin said. "And it's my job as a leader to provide that opportunity. … Forget what you say, it's about how you move forward in terms of your work, the level of detail and the consistency of it. And so, we certainly will be watching that closely as we push into this week."