Eight weeks into the season, and Titans running back Chris Johnson still is nowhere to be found.
Perhaps overshadowing the Titans' 27-10 victory over the winless Colts on Sunday is the fact that not only was Johnson awful (again) in rushing 14 times for 34 yards, but teammate Javon Ringer outperformed him with an equal number of carries for 60 yards.
It was part of a backs-by-committee approach that Titans coach Mike Munchak said will continue.
How's that sitting with Johnson?
"The type of player I am, it's hard to be on the sideline while the offense is out there making plays," said Johnson, who led the NFL with 2,006 yards in 2009, but has just 302 after seven games this season. "Of course I always want to be out there going to war with my team. I want to be out there every single drive. It's just a situation where the coaches call these plays, and they have a rotation thing going.
"The running game hasn't been where we wanted it to be all year, so I guess they're just trying new things."
New things? That's one way of putting it, but let's call this what it is: a demotion.
Johnson was hit with a plethora of questions regarding the situation. His answers were pretty status quo, too -- a smart move because any complaining wouldn't have gone over well. For whatever reasons -- the 4½-month NFL lockout, his prolonged contract holdout -- Johnson has been in a funk this season, which led to Munchak's decision.
So it looks like Titans fans and fantasy owners hoping for a quick Johnson turnaround will have to wait a while longer.
