It’s too bad Diontae Johnson has been out of the Ravens’ locker room for the past two weeks. He would have seen what he was missing.

With Johnson out of the mix — last week with a suspension, this week with what the Ravens have described as a mutual agreement he would be away from the team — his opportunities have trickled down. Maybe an established veteran like Johnson wasn’t happy with five targets in four games, but some on the roster are eager to lap up those chances.

There may be no one happier in the last few days than rookie Devontez Walker, who earned the nickname “Toe Tap Tez” from teammates after his dazzling 21-yard touchdown catch against the Giants. It was his first career reception on his first career target and a small flash of what the fourth-round pick might have to offer.

“I really just was preparing every week like I was starting every week,” said Walker, who has played just 15 offensive snaps this season. “When that opportunity comes at that position, I’m ready to go.”

Out of the mouths of rookies comes wisdom. You wonder what that mentality could have done for Johnson in his time in Baltimore — a stint now destined to be brief.

Many big questions remain as to what exactly is going on with Johnson, who has gone from a low-cost trade-deadline pickup to a shadow around this week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, his former team. Johnson caught 42 passes, three for touchdowns, as a Steeler against Baltimore. Somehow, even as a member of the Ravens, he’s found a way to be a thorn in their side.

According to the team’s account, Johnson refused to check in against the Eagles, a blow to a receiving corps that was limited by Rashod Bateman’s injury.

Elsewhere in the NFL, San Francisco linebacker De’Vondre Campbell is serving a three-game suspension for a similar offense. His 49ers teammates called his decision “selfish” and “stupid” and acknowledged it hurt the team.

Baltimore is Johnson’s second stop this season after Carolina quickly shipped him off, so he was already dancing on a tightrope that could easily see him cut.

It’s not as if the Ravens are precious about these kinds of moves, even if they have to wave the white flag on their biggest midseason trade acquisition. They have already moved on from safety Eddie Jackson midseason and, frankly, Jackson had made more on-field contributions.

One of many odd things about the Ravens’ handling of Johnson is that his teammates have not turned on him. Even after the Eagles game, Johnson was seen in the locker room in calm conversations with his teammates. Lamar Jackson and Zay Flowers said they hoped to see him back in action. Even this week, as it becomes clearer that Johnson probably won’t suit up again, teammates haven’t so much turned on him as simply not discussed him with the media.

As Johnson remains in this purgatory, there are many details I’d love to know. Did Johnson not want to return this week against his old team? Did the Ravens not want him back?

Is Baltimore’s front office holding on to him so he can’t join a rival AFC contender? Are the Ravens holding out for a possible compensatory draft pick to squeeze out as much of a refund as possible? Could Johnson still be cut?

For now, these remain head-scratchers. Attempts to contact Johnson’s representation met no response. General manager Eric DeCosta’s statement on Dec. 4 said he would have no further comment, and coach John Harbaugh sure doesn’t have much to add.

“I know you guys want to hear the story,” Harbaugh said Monday. “There’s a lot of moving parts. There are reasons for doing things that are front office-type reasons. Do I want to sit here and get into all of the different calculations that Eric makes? I really don’t.”

It’s an understandable, if unsatisfying, stance. Johnson’s self-sidelining was so extreme that it has forced his GM and coach into uncomfortable roles to maintain diplomacy. They wouldn’t be wrong to chew him out in the limelight and go the 49ers route, but that’s not how the powers-that-be with the Ravens generally operate.

So, yes, it’s a little chilly at the top for Johnson. But, if he feels he never got a fair shake, he ought to dwell on two takeaways from Sunday’s game:

1. Without him, Lamar Jackson threw five touchdowns, including one to a rookie.

2. That rookie has been the subject of nonstop praise from his teammates.

What makes things sweeter for everyone in the locker room is how Walker worked for his big Sunday moment. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken gave him props for coming back from a rib injury in camp. Flowers praised his effort against the first-team defense in practice.

Tylan Wallace, who knows a thing or two about doing the dirty work, said he’s tried to keep the rookie levelheaded as he has predominantly played special teams.

“Some games he’s been up; some games he’s been down,” Wallace said. “Like I was telling him, I’ve been through the same thing, bro. And then it takes one week, and you never know.”

If Johnson never plays another snap for the Ravens, he may look back in frustration. But, whether it was the Eagles game he declined or the Giants week he was suspended, that could have been the week it came together for him in this offense. It could have been him scoring that first touchdown, getting that key breakthrough and sopping up the attaboys.

We’ll never know. And, judging from the locker room this week, none of the Ravens is all that curious to wonder about it anyway.