Ravens, Diontae Johnson agree to excuse him from Week 16 team activities

After serving a one-game suspension, Diontae Johnson will not be back with the Ravens for Saturday's game against the Steelers.

Johnson and the team have mutually agreed that he is excused from team activities this week.

Baltimore initially suspended Johnson after he refused to enter the Week 13 loss to Philadelphia.

"All I'm really thinking about right now is Pittsburgh and getting our team ready for Pittsburgh,” head coach John Harbaugh said in his Monday press conference, via Jeff Zrebiec of TheAthletic.com. “He won't be here this week and next week will take care of itself.”

When asked why the team hasn’t just released Johnson, Harbaugh said, “There are reasons for doing things, front office type reasons. I want to think about Pittsburgh and the guys who are going to be here getting ready to play Pittsburgh. That's my focus 100 percent.”

Johnson played five seasons for the Steelers before they traded him to the Panthers in the 2024 offseason. So the Ravens could be keeping Johnson around just to prevent him from potentially being claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh this week.

Baltimore acquired Johnson midway through this season, but he’s caught just one pass for 6 yards in four games.