Diontae Johnson is owning up to his lack of effort in the middle of the Steelers' matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals ... saying he addressed the situation with his teammates and vowed to do better moving forward.
The 27-year-old wide receiver faced a ton of backlash for seemingly giving up in the middle of a play during Pittsburgh's 16-10 win on Sunday ... with game footage showing him appearing uninterested in going for the ball after Jaylen Warren fumbled in the first quarter.
Johnson spoke with reporters about the now-viral lowlight on Wednesday .