Ravens Announce Punishment for WR Who Refused to Play Against Eagles

Ever since the Baltimore Ravens traded 2025 fifth- and sixth-round picks to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver Diontae Johnson, they’ve had a turbulent relationship.

In four games with the Ravens, Johnson has logged just one catch on five targets for six yards despite having been one of the Panthers more heavily used wideouts (he had 30 receptions on 58 targets for 357 yards and three touchdowns prior to being traded.)

So when Johnson refused to enter Baltimore’s 24-19 Week 13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, things came to a head. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh refused to comment on Johnson’s status after the game, and his remarks reinforced the suspicion that something just wasn’t right.

Ravens fans now know exactly what it is after the team announced it was suspending Johnson for its Week 15 matchup against the New York Giants.

“We have made the difficult decision to suspend Diontae Johnson for our upcoming game against the New York Giants for conduct detrimental to the team,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement. “Diontae's suspension stems from refusing to enter our game against the Philadelphia Eagles. We will have no further comments on this matter going forward.”

Johnson will get two weeks to reflect on his actions with the Ravens having a bye in Week 14 before heading to the New York the following week.

After losing out on the top three WRs available on the trade market — Davante Adams, who went from the Raiders to the Jets, Amari Cooper, who went from the Browns to the Bills, and DeAndre Hopkins, who went from the Titans to the Chiefs — the Ravens plucked Johnson from a bad situation in Carolina, where the team was just 2-7 and dealing with quarterback issues.

The 28-year-old receiver was supposed to give Baltimore’s WR room a boost and take some pressure off Zay Flowers, who is the recipient of double teams on a seemingly weekly basis.

When Johnson returns, he’ll have just three regular-season games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans and Browns to get his act together before the playoffs start.