Sources – Diontae Johnson, Minkah Fitzpatrick got into ‘heated’ argument

Diontae Johnson’s frustration on the field last Sunday in Cleveland continued after the game in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room, where he got into a heated argument with teammate Minkah Fitzpatrick before Cameron Heyward and TJ Watt broke it up. the altercation and delivered a message that the team needed to stay together, league sources told ESPN.

Order was eventually restored to the Pittsburgh locker room, but the argument between two of the team’s star players left a mark on the Steelers, who fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada two days later.

Pittsburgh’s performance on and off the field in last Sunday’s 13-10 loss to Cleveland marked a clear turning point, leading the Steelers to make their first in-season coaching change since 1941. After another offensive performance Incompetence and Johnson’s outburst made it clear that the Steelers needed to act.

Johnson, who had just two catches against the Browns, was visibly upset on the sideline during the game, engaging in a heated conversation with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

But the passionate remarks did not stop there.

A source told ESPN that Johnson, the Steelers’ sophomore wide receiver, continued to “chirp” to Steelers coaches all the way to the locker room, where Fitzpatrick – a three-time first-team All Pro – began arguing with Johnson . Discussions between Johnson and Fitzpatrick became “heated,” in the words of another source, before Heyward and Watt intervened and prevented the situation from escalating.

Heyward and Watt calmed everyone down before addressing the situation with Tomlin. Sources around the team believe the Steelers were able to move on and that the locker room incident did not carry over into the team’s preparation for Sunday’s game against the Bengals.

But the dispute between Johnson and Fitzpatrick is also an example of the type of effect the Steelers’ struggling offense has had on the team as a whole, as tempers flare and emotions take over, even taking over some of Pittsburgh’s best players.

It’s all part of the reason Tomlin and the Steelers fired Canada on Tuesday. The last time the Steelers fired a head coach or coordinator mid-season was in 1941, when the team’s half-owner Bert Bell fired himself from the job. as head coach after an 0-2 start, before hiring Aldo Donelli, who went 0-5, then Walt Kiesling, who finished 1-2-1.

For the remainder of the season, the new offensive coordinator will be running back coach Eddie Faulkner, while Mike Sullivan will be the Steelers’ primary play-caller during the game.

“You hate to see that,” Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett told reporters earlier this week. “You don’t want to see one of your coaches lose their job. We all have to be better.”

Faulkner, who has been on Pittsburgh’s staff since 2019, said Thursday the Steelers feel like they let Canada down.

“I can’t say enough good things about Matt Canada,” Faulkner said. “It’s a little bittersweet in that way because when you sit back and see everything that’s going on, and everything that’s being said about him and the offense, all of us – and I’m talking on behalf of the offense when I say this to “We all felt like we were all part of this. No one absolves himself of everything that happened in this regard. We feel like we’ve let him down. “

The Steelers offense struggled throughout Canada’s tenure as offensive coordinator, never eclipsing 400 yards of offense during his 45-game career, including the playoffs. The Steelers were the only team during that streak to fail to reach 400 yards, while 31 other teams reached that mark at least four times each.

Pittsburgh is 6-4 this season but has a negative point differential (-29) and has been outscored in every game this season. The Steelers rank 28th in points per game (16.6), 28th in offensive yards per game (280.1) and 30th in passing yards per game (170) this season.

Tomlin said he chose Faulkner to lead the offense because of his “tough voice and demeanor” and “natural” communication in leading the running back room.

Faulker said there won’t necessarily be a significant tactical change in Pittsburgh’s offense, but stressed that he’s “going to hold the guys around us accountable” and “work really hard to be in sync” with Sullivan .

ESPN’s Brooke Pryor contributed to this report.