For those of you who would like to see Chris Johnson run the football on an NFL field this year, I'm afraid things aren't looking good.
Larry Fitzgerald's new deal likely squashed any notion Johnson had of taking a more modest contract. The Titans general manager says there's no point in even making Johnson an offer. And the owner of the franchise says that life's too short to deal with Johnson "with the way he's acting."
But other than that, I think things are going really well.
It's officially time to start pushing Johnson down your fantasy draft boards. The Titans season starts in 20 days, and they're moving further and further apart. Anyone have any reason to believe that things between Johnson and the team will become less frosty in the next couple of weeks?
Here's more from Titans owner Bud Adams (via TitanInsider):
"I'm not gonna make any offer with the way he's acting. Life's too short," Adams said.
While it appears the Titans are standing firm in their stance, indications are that Johnson's camp has dug in their heels as well in their demands. The possibility of the stalemate lasting into the regular season is becoming more likely each day.
"That could be, but that's his decision. He's got to make that. I'm not going to interfere. If he doesn't want to come in and play, then he doesn't want to come in and play," Adams said.
Pretty much everyone loses here. Johnson's not winning -- he's not paid, and he's not playing football. The Titans aren't winning, because they don't have their bell cow. What about Matt Hasselbeck? What does anyone expect him to do with a Titans offense missing the one ingredient they couldn't afford to be without?
[Fantasy Football: Join a league]
We all lose. The whole league misses out when Johnson's not on the field. He changes games. He tests defenses. We all get fewer quality games to watch, because Titans/Colts, Titans/Jaguars and Titans/Texans, all of which should be interesting, meaningful games, become less interesting without Johnson.
Maybe I'm underestimating Johnson's backups. I hope so. Maybe someone out of the group of third-year back Javon Ringer, second-year back Stafon Johnson, rookie Jamie Harper, and Herb Donaldson, who I believe is also my dentist, can step in and give the Titans at least a decent running game.
They ran the ball pretty well against St. Louis on Saturday. In preseason Week 1 against Minnesota, not so much. I really don't know what they're capable of. None of them will get close to what Johnson did, but maybe, together, they can be something approaching good.
I hope we don't have to find out, but it looks like we're going to.
Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Late wife's wish for NFL labor peace
? Video: Michigan football team sports new rock fight song
? Who are college basketball's biggest underachievers?
No comments:
Post a Comment