Former Ravens wide receiver Diontae Johnson broke his silence regarding his refusal to enter last season’s Week 13 game against the Philadelphia Eagles that led to his release less than two months after Baltimore traded for him.

“It was cold,” Johnson, a Florida native, said on the “Sports & Suits” podcast. “So, I’m on the sideline, just standing there, just going to the heater, back and forth, just waiting to hear my name called. So, end of third [quarter], going into the fourth over there, they’re like, ‘Tae, we need you.’ I’m like, ‘Nah.’ To me, I’m thinking, ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for me,’ because I was thinking about, like, my legs. I don’t want to go out there and put bad stuff on film.

“And it’s not like I didn’t want to go in the game. But you’ve got to think, like, leading up to this point, I’d been through so much. … I’d checked out mentally. I was like, ‘Whatever happens, happens.’ I was just rolling with the punches at that time. So, I told them I wasn’t going in. I was like, ‘I understand what you’re saying, but I’m not going to go in.’ So, I just sat on the bench, and that’s when they suspended me.”

The game was played at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 1, and the temperature at the 4:25 p.m. kickoff was 41 degrees.

The Ravens had asked Johnson to go into the game after wide receiver Rashod Bateman exited with an injury. The Ravens suspended Johnson for one game due to conduct detrimental to the team and waived him a week later.

“I already knew if I went back, I was going to be in the doghouse even more,” Johnson said. “So, I just asked to get released, and I got picked up by Houston.”

Johnson played in one game for the Texans, catching two passes for 12 yards in their regular-season finale, and was waived again shortly thereafter.

The Ravens had acquired the 28-year-old Johnson at the trade deadline, sending a fifth-round pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for the pass-catcher and a sixth-round pick. Carolina also reportedly agreed to take on some of Johnson’s contract.

Johnson played 39 snaps in four games with the Ravens and caught one pass for six yards. He had 30 catches for 357 yards and three touchdowns in seven games with the Panthers. Johnson spent his first five seasons with Pittsburgh, where he caught 391 passes for 4,363 yards and 25 touchdowns.

“That was a tough situation for me,” Johnson said of his short stint with the Ravens. “I love the players and stuff. I love the organization. But it just wasn’t for me.”

Perhaps Cleveland, which also tends to get cold in December, will be for Johnson, who signed a one-year deal with the Browns this offseason for the reported veteran minimum of $1.17 million.