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A reduced load bothered him in Kansas City. It won’t do the same in Washington, where Larry Johnson said he hasn’t proven a thing. So if his carries are limited, Johnson said he can accept that fact.
Johnson signed with the Redskins last week and will be paired with Clinton Portis, another back used to a lot of carries each game. And though Johnson said he comes to Washington with the mindset of a starter, he understands he’s in a new situation.
“You have to regain that respect as far as how many touches you can and can’t have,” said Johnson, talking publicly for the first time since signing with Washington. “In Kansas City I felt I deserved more because I’d been there before any of the other coaches got there. I felt I had worked my way up to those carries. It’s different here. I have to re-work again to get myself back to how many carries I get per game.”
Johnson said he and Portis have talked, but very little has centered on football.
“We just joke around and he goes his way and I go my way,” he said. “It’s always been a show of respect for both of us. I know what he’s been able to do off the field and on the field and he knows what I’ve been able to do on the field. We complement each other. It’s never, ‘I’m coming here to take your spot.’ “
Besides, he said they can co-exist.
“I think so,” he said. “[Mike Shanahan’s] offense… he has so many backs. It definitely will be better for both of us. It’ll take off the wear and tear and have us play longer and produce more.”
And though Johnson is coming off a rough year — cut by the Chiefs mid-season; reports of him being finished; controversial statements via twitter — he does not view this as a frehs start. Rather, he said, it’s an opportunity to play for a coach in Mike Shanahan whose offense he has long admired.
“I’ve been in so many fresh starts,” he said. “This is more like I’m going into a different era of my own. … I don’t want to say it’s a fresh start because being 30, your fresh starts are gone.”
Johnson has rushed for 6,219 yards in his first seven seasons, but has not surpassed 874 yards since 2006. He’s at an age (30) where running backs typically produce less.
“I still have a lot left,” Johnson said. “People keep forgetting I didn’t play much my first couple years in the NFL so I have a lot of burn left and I haven’t been nicked up or hurt as far as my whole career. For me… I’m kind of like a Cadillac; it never loses its luster. It just moves on. That’s how I felt.”
Couple more points by Johnson:
On why the Redskins should be confident in him: “It’s a trust. I trust them that they would do the right thing for my career and they trust them to do what’s in the best interests of the organization.”
On if he did any soul searching after Kansas City: “Nah, I just had to be with a coach who cares and does what has to be done to put our team in the best situation to win. Being in that siutation wasn’t the best for my career or the best for the organization. Going to the Bengals made it comfortable for me to find my transition. Coach Shanahan talked to me before as far as my visit here and it seemed like a better fit to be [with a] coach who’s actually been there.”
On if this offense will be similar to what Denver ran under Shanahan: “I think so. It’s a system that works. I don’t see any reason why he’d go away from that system. It’s gotten him to Super Bowls and numerous 1,000-yard rushers.”
