There have been several examples of when a star player has an extended hold out and haven’t played well at the beginning of the season. It is especially hard for running backs, because so much of their game is based off feel and rhythm.
Chris Johnson is the latest to suffer from this and he admits that he wasn’t in the best of shape when he came into camp.
“I feel like I’m pretty much in football-conditioned shape right now,” Johnson said. “The first couple or three weeks when I got here, I was getting over a lot of soreness and tightness. So toward the end of practice, I wasn’t able to run the gassers and things like that. But today I was able to run them and things like that. Running them and me having my wind and feeling good, I feel like I’m in football shape.”
Similar to Darrelle Revis last year, I figure Johnson will get his legs back around midseason and with the Titans playing good ball, they might make some noise later on in the season.
Hopefully the money doesn’t change Johnson’s approach and work ethic. I don’t think so, but we will have to see how it turns out.