After five months of reading about Chris Johnson's rejuvenation, I was excited to watch what he looked like in the Tennessee Titans' preseason opener last Saturday night.
What I saw looked a lot like his 2011 performance. Five carries, eight yards, and two drive-killing drops. He made a man miss in the hole on one play (good sign) and showed some burst on a nine-yard run. He also was criticized by Titans announcer Eddie George for not pressing the hole. Johnson wasn't decisive taking the yardage that was there.
Titans coach Mike Munchak said he wasn't concerned about Johnson's runs. The coach was disappointed about the drops because they showed a lack of concentration.
"It's just the preseason right now," Johnson explained Tuesday, via The Tennessean. "We're still working, still in camp, trying to get better every day. .... It's a thing you go through ... but anytime you play against another team (in the preseason), you don't really game-plan against them or anything like that. You're just going out there basically like another scrimmage."
His thoughts on Twitter after the game summed up his feelings more succinctly.
"Lol preseason." That's probably not a slogan that the NFL will use in its promotional materials to sell our preseason live package.
