There once was a time when Chris Johnson had earned the nickname CJ2K. Those days are gone, as Johnson has been effective at times but disappointing for the most part since his 2,006-yard season in 2009. The Titans’ poor offensive line play has not made life easy on the 27-year-old, but his effort has been called into question on numerous occasions.
During an interview with Jim Rome on Tuesday, Johnson talked about how pleased he is with Tennessee for signing free agent guard Andy Levitre and taking another guard, Chance Warmack of Alabama, with its No. 10 overall pick in the draft. As a result, his confidence remains higher than ever.
“I know I have another 2,000 yard season in me,” Johnson said. “I would love to get 2,000 yards again, but I haven’t been to the playoffs since my rookie year, I want to get back there.”
Earlier this offseason, Johnson made it clear that he is unhappy with the team’s decision to bolster its backfield by signing former New York Jets running back Shonn Greene. However, he is not worried about losing goal line carries if he still handles most of the workload.
“Once the off-season started, being here, being in the playbook and seeing the type of things they’re trying to do, I don’t think it was really a bad choice,” Johnson said. “I’m not worried about him taking any carries. … At the end of the day you want to stay in there. [But] I’d rather have 2,000 yards than have 20 touchdowns, so you got to take the good with the bad.”
CJ also said back in February that he feels he is capable of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, so he is no stranger to setting the bar high. If he runs hard for 16 games, we know Johnson has the talent to break the 2,000-yard mark. The fact that we haven’t seen that burst for three years probably isn’t a coincidence.
Helmet smack to Pro Football Talk
