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Adam Schefter announced today that the Jets have some concerns about the condition of Chris Johnson’s surgical knee . . .
He also announced that arthritis that has developed in the knee.
First off, before we get into the weeds on this issue, even if this is true, it shouldn’t prevent Johnson from being a nice weapon for the Jets this year.
Down the road when he’s retired is he going to have a bad knee or knees? Probably.
Arthritis often occurs in the knees for active athletes (pro and recreational) who play a lot of sports. It’s a simple wear-and-tear issue. Kind of like the tires on your car.
Think about Johnson’s workload over the years. He have touched on this before. At East Carolina, where he played four years (he didn’t come out early), he had 624 carries, caught 125 passes and returned 115 kicks.
During his six years with the Tennessee Titans, he had 1,742 carries and 272 receptions.
His knees have had quite a workload over the last 10 years.
And we didn’t even include his carries at Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida.
So yes, he probably has a little arthritis in his surgical knee.
But, with that being said, he should be able to play on a high level for the Jets this year, and perhaps next.
He will just have to deal with pain, which most NFL players are exceptional at. Honestly, during the season, there probably isn’t a part of an NFL running back’s body that doesn’t hurt. Freeman McNeil once described said his body felt like it was “in a car wreck” the day after a game.
Toradol shots before games help as well.
So where did Schefter get this info from?
It certainly wasn’t the Jets.
Why on earth would they leak out to a reporter that they are concerned with Johnson’s knee, right after signing him to a two-year contract?
No way.
It certainly wasn’t Johnson. He shot down the arthritis story today during a conference call with Jets beat writers.
While some might find this hard to believe, I think this came from one of Johnson’s reps.
Why would a Johnson rep leak that sort of negative info about their client?
I think the answer to that is simple.
Johnson, once an NFL superstar, just got a pedestrian contract, at the age of 28.
The Jets didn’t pay this one-time 2,000 yard rusher a lot of money.
You hear all this talk about a two-year for up to $9 million.
That is a little misleading
Only $3 million of that is guaranteed, and in NFL contracts, that is all that matters. The rest is window dressing.
So since Johnson got an underwhelming contract. Player representation agencies are often judged by the contracts they land. It can help or hurt them in future recruiting.
So since Johnson didn’t get a great contract, considering his profile, it behooves somebody from his agency, to get it out there, that the Jets were concerned with his knee.
April 17, 2014
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