Calvin Johnson thinks he’ll be playing with knee pain all season

Calvin Johnson turned in one of his best performances of the season as the Detroit Lions defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, but it is a well-known fact that he did not feel his best. Johnson has been dealing with pain in his left knee that kept him out of practice all week. Unfortunately for Detroit, he feels it may limit him all season.

“It’s probably something I’m going to have to deal with,” Johnson said according to MLive.com. “As much running as we do, especially in this game, it’s stuff that really could take the whole season to get over with. It would be great if it can get over it before. It’s something that I expect to linger. You just got to stay on top of it with treatments.”

Megatron was still able to dominate against a weak defense with seven catches for 129 yards. Last week, he was held to only three catches for 46 yards against a tough Seahawks defense. The week before that he caught three balls for 34 yards against an even tougher Bears defense.

For the most part, Johnson has succeeded against lesser opponents and struggled against elite corners — just ask this Seahawks defensive back. The Megatron of old had success against pretty much anyone, so the knee has obviously been an issue. If you think a fully healthy Johnson would have only one touchdown catch in eight games, you haven’t been paying attention over the last few seasons. The 4-4 Lions are looking to crawl back into playoff contention, but Johnson’s knee could be one of the things that prevents them from getting there.