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Formally, Diontae Johnson spent simply over seven weeks in Baltimore. However by the tip of the extensive receiver\u2019s first month with the Ravens, he was already sad.
In an interview with former South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia, Johnson mentioned on a \u201cSport and Fits\u201d episode printed earlier this month<\/a> that he was \u201cchecked out mentally\u201d earlier than the Ravens\u2019 Week 13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in early December.
Johnson refused to enter the sport after extensive receiver Rashod Bateman was injured, and he was suspended one sport for conduct detrimental to the team.<\/a>
\u201cThat was a tricky state of affairs for me,\u201d Johnson, 28, mentioned of his time in Baltimore. \u201cI like the gamers and stuff. I like the group. Nevertheless it simply wasn\u2019t for me.\u201d
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Johnson mentioned he \u201cfelt like I wasn\u2019t getting used\u201d by the Ravens, who acquired him<\/a> as a part of a late-round decide swap in late October with the Carolina Panthers. He received simply 39 offensive snaps over his first 4 video games in Baltimore, making one catch on 5 targets for six yards. The Ravens went 3-1 over that stretch, averaging 31 factors per sport.
Johnson then didn\u2019t seem within the first half of the Ravens\u2019 showdown against the Eagles<\/a>, a late-afternoon game in Baltimore<\/a>, the place the temperature at kickoff was 41 levels.
\u201cIt was chilly,\u201d mentioned Johnson, a Florida native who was within the closing 12 months of his contract final season. \u201cSo I\u2019m on the sideline, simply standing there, simply going to the heater, backwards and forwards, simply ready to listen to my identify referred to as. So finish of third [quarter], going into the fourth over there, they\u2019re like, \u2018\u2019Tae, we want you.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018Nah.\u2019 To me, I\u2019m considering, \u2018I don\u2019t suppose it\u2019s a good suggestion,\u2019 as a result of I used to be occupied with, like, my legs. I don\u2019t need to go on the market and put dangerous stuff on movie.
\u201cAnd it\u2019s not like I didn\u2019t need<\/i> to go within the sport. However you\u2019ve received to suppose, like, main up up to now, I\u2019d been by means of a lot. … I\u2019d checked out mentally. I used to be like, \u2018No matter occurs, occurs.\u2019 I used to be simply rolling with the punches at the moment. So I advised them I wasn\u2019t stepping into. I used to be like, \u2018I perceive what you\u2019re saying, however I\u2019m not [going to] go in.\u2019 So I simply sat on the bench, and that\u2019s once they suspended me.\u201d
Three days later, in the course of the Ravens\u2019 bye week, the staff announced Johnson\u2019s suspension<\/a>. In a press release, DeCosta referred to as it a \u201ctroublesome determination.\u201d
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Johnson didn\u2019t return to the staff\u2019s practices, and the Ravens waived him on Dec. 20.
\u201cI already knew if I went again, I used to be going to be within the doghouse much more,\u201d Johnson mentioned. \u201cSo I simply requested to get launched, and I received picked up by Houston.\u201d
Johnson lasted simply three weeks with the Texans, showing in a single sport and making two catches on 4 targets for 12 yards. Irritating along with his taking part in time, he mentioned he \u201cchecked out\u201d once more. Johnson was waived on Jan. 14, solely to be claimed once more by the Ravens forward of the playoffs, as a part of an apparent compensatory-pick ploy<\/a>.
After the season, Ravens normal supervisor Eric DeCosta mentioned the staff had accomplished its \u201chomework\u201d earlier than buying Johnson, an occasional lightning rod for controversy over his stops with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Panthers.
\u201cWe understood the dangers and the rewards,\u201d DeCosta mentioned in late January. \u201c[We] didn\u2019t take a look at it as value prohibitive. It was a comparatively cheap deal for us to make, in some ways. We knew that it wasn\u2019t 100% going to be a slam dunk. It didn\u2019t work out. We all the time attempt to mitigate our dangers. One of many jobs of a normal supervisor is to mitigate your danger and take a look at the draw back and the upside and see the way it works out. In that specific state of affairs, I actually didn\u2019t see a number of draw back. I feel we understood what the draw back could be.\u201d
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Johnson signed a one-year, $1.2 million cope with the Browns in April. In line with Climate Underground, the common temperature in Cleveland this previous December was 35.8 degrees<\/a>.
Jonas Shaffer<\/a>
jonas.shaffer@thebaltimorebanner.com<\/a>
Jonas Shaffer is a Ravens beat author for The Baltimore Banner. He beforehand coated the Ravens for The Baltimore Solar. Shaffer graduated from the College of Maryland and grew up in Silver Spring.
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