Last week, Johnson said he would put a critical drop against Pittsburgh behind him. Instead, he caught only two passes for 36 yards.
View full sizeBills receiver Steve Johnson is hoping to have a big game on Sunday and help lessen the attention he received for this overtime drop against the Steelers two weeks ago.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- You may have heard Bills' receiver Steve Johnson's name mentioned by Jay Leno, Jimmel Kimmel or Rush Limbaugh two weeks ago.
But not because of his team-leading 61 receptions or nine touchdowns.
Johnson has become notorious this season for dropping a sure TD pass in the end zone in overtime against the Steelers on Nov. 28 to cost the Bills a victory -- and for his post-game tweet to God about the incident.
Johnson, who dropped five passes in that game, tweeted "I praise you 24/7!!!!!! And this how you do me!!!! You expect me to learn from this??? How ???!!! I'll never forget this!! Ever!!! Thx tho ..."
Kimmel cracked in his Late Show monologue, "By the way, if God cared about you at all, he wouldn't have you playing for the Bills."
And Leno quipped, "Hey, he thought God made him drop the pass. The Buffalo Bills are 2-(10). God gave up on the Bills a long time ago."
Last week, Johnson said he would put the incident behind him and rebound against the Vikings. Instead, he caught only two passes for 36 yards.
"The last couple weeks he's struggled a little bit, but he's played extremely well otherwise," said coach Chan Gailey. "I expect even bigger things for him in the future."
Gailey said he hasn't made an issue of Johnson's big drop.
"I said something to him after the ballgame," said Gailey. "I'm one of those that believes if you go in and talk to him and bring him into the office every day and go out to the practice field and pat him on the back every day -- if you don't treat him the same, all of a sudden they feel like, 'Uh, oh, something must really be wrong.' I tried to talk to him after the game and then I tried to treat him like I would every other week.
"Everybody has bad days. You try to be positive with the guy and keep treating him exactly the same. If it becomes a real issue, then you have to address it. If it's a one-time shot, my thought is, don't make a big deal out of it. Address it, don't avoid it. The good ones keep bouncing back from those."
Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown doesn't think the third-year receiver is in a funk.
"As an athlete, you never lack confidence, no matter how bad you play," said Brown. "He's a young, talented receiver. He's a big-play guy and obviously [Bedford native and Bills receiver] Lee Evans has taught him well."
Johnson, a seventh-round pick out of Kentucky in 2008, leads the Bills with career highs in receptions (61), receiving yards (832) and touchdowns (9) in 2010. He's had some monster games, including an 11 catches for 145 yards against Chicago and eight for 158 against Baltimore. He also caught eight passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns against the Bengals.
"Pretty soon people will start keying on him and doubling him and things like that," said Gailey. "We know that's coming. We've got to keep working with that and deal with that as it shows up."
Last week, Johnson said he was able to put the drop behind him. He'll try to prove that again today.
"I haven't forgotten about it but I'm able to move on," he said. "I feel like I learned I'm not in control. I'm not in control of the situations, and I thought I was. I'll be back to my same old self, out there fighting with my guys and my brothers. I'm going to be the same Stevie Johnson as the guys know."