Pittsburgh Steelers' Kaleb Johnson sidesteps question about knowing kickoff rule

Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Kaleb Johnson had the first major blunder of his NFL career in the Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Johnson was once again on kick return duties on Sunday, but it appears he didn't know a very important rule that proved costly.

In the fourth quarter with the Steelers trailing 17-14, Johnson attempted to field a kickoff that bounced in the landing zone. After whiffing on the ball completely, the ball bounced into the end zone, but Johnson didn't bother to go after it.

The result was the Seahawks recovering it for a touchdown, which gave them a 24-17 lead at the time. Of course, Seattle went on to win 31-17, so the blunder was a crucial moment in the game.

According to the new kickoff rules, any ball that lands in the landing zone is a live ball and can be recovered by the other team. When asked if he knew the rule, the rookie did not give an answer.

"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."

The lack of a direct answer suggests Johnson didn't know the rule. At the very least, he simply forgot it, which is just as inexcusable.

If Johnson didn't know the rule, his mistake is also on special teams coordinator Danny Smith and head coach Mike Tomlin, but it's hard to imagine the veteran coaches didn't go over that with their kick returners.

"Poor judgement by a young player," Tomlin said of Johnson's blunder after the game.

Johnson did not get another kick return the rest of the game. We'll see if he keeps his job or if Tomlin will delegate the responsibility to someone else moving forward.

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