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New Jersey – Chris Johnson said this week during an interview with NFL.com – “If they want me to continue making plays, I’m pretty sure I can’t do that if I’m on the sideline.” . . .
Chris Johnson is going to be part of a running rotation. End of story. Chris Ivory is one of the NFL’s best power back. Bilal Powell is underrated. It doesn’t matter what Johnson wants to do. That is irrelevant.
“Once the season starts and once we’re playing and I’m doing my thing, I’m pretty sure if I’m making plays they’re going to want to keep handing the ball off to me,” Johnson said. “If they want me to continue making plays, I’m pretty sure I can’t do that if I’m on the sideline.”
But he will have to. He will have to get used to being on the sidelines more than he ever was in Nashville.
First of all, he is coming off knee surgery, and has a lot of miles on him. No matter how well he plays, he is going to platoon. End of story.
This isn’t a hot-hand issue. This is about pragmatism. He’s going to be 29 in September, has carried the ball a ton in high school, college and the NFL. Using him as a bell cow at this stage of the game is foolish. The Jets know this.
And let’s not forget Ivory is a heck of a football player.
As the former Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton said last year, “Chris Ivory and Marshawn Lynch are the two most violent runner in the NFL.”
That touchdown run Ivory had against Oakland last year, when he broke five tackles on the way to the end zone, is what this guy is all about. Johnson can’t do this.
Johnson is a back with world class speed, and could go 80 yards for a touchdown at any given time. Ivory can’t do that.
Johnson is better at catching the ball out of the backfield than ivory.
Johnson is an undersized speed back with soft hands, and Ivory is the quintessential power back. What a perfect complimentary tandem – “Thunder and Lightning” – as some are wont to call this kind of combo.
So no Johnson isn’t going to take over as the featured back if he plays well. The days of Johnson toting the rock 250-300 carries a season are over.
And he needs to accept that.
Johnson and Mike Vick need to embrace their new roles, and stop talking to the media about what they really want. Even though you have to respect the competitive nature of both, it’s not entirely healthy from a team standpoint to be talking this way.
The following quote from Johnson is more like it, when asked what his biggest goal is this year.
“Basically, I’m just trying to win,” Johnson said this week. “Winning, that’s the number one thing on my mind right now. I have been to the playoffs one year since I’ve been in the league so it’s a situation where it’s desperately what I’m focused on.”
And he can be a major factor in the Jets winning, as a runner with rare speed, who catches the ball well, and can compliment the power of the Jets’ other two backs – Ivory and Powell.
July 2, 2104
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