The New York Jets don't plan on making veteran running back Chris Johnson the team's workhorse. They do, however, see him as an integral part of what appears to be a pretty stout stable of tailbacks.
In addition to Chris Ivory's bruising style and Bilal Powell's well-roundedness, Gang Green now has the outside breakaway threat it has been looking for in the speedster Johnson, whom they signed this offseason.
"I really like the versatility; [it] really gives you the opportunity to do more things to attack the defense," Jets running backs coach Anthony Lynn said last week, via NJ.com. "So with Chris's skill-set, combined with Chris Ivory's power-running game, and Bilal Powell's more of a combination of both, it's a really good quality to have in the room."
Johnson has been the feature guy for nearly the entirety of his pro career, though the 28-year-old (29 in September) has supposedly embraced the by-committee system the Jets run under offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
The former Tennessee Titan, who has rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each of his six seasons with 50 rushing touchdowns to boot, had surgery in January to repair a torn meniscus. He was held out of OTAs and limited in minicamp, so he's facing one of the more important training camps and preseasons of his career.
Lynn, while impressed with Johnson so far, is waiting until then to make a full evaluation.
"I like to see it in pads, the way the game is played," Lynn said. "Too many times, what you see in shorts doesn't correlate to pads."
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