Chris Johnson is not afraid to hide his feelings when it comes to the Tennessee Titans. Johnson is very happy with that team's decision to add to the offensive line, including the signing of guard Andy Levitre to a six-year, $46.8 million contract. This will help Johnson's rushing abilities and production. There is one signing that Johnson is expressing his displeasure over, the signing of running back Shonn Greene. The Titans signed the former New York Jets running back to a three-year contract.
Johnson is not a fan of multiple running backs running an offense. According Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean reports that Johnson is confused why the team decided to sign the free agent back to a contract worth a total of $10 million.
"I've never been a big fan of the two-back system, so I don't know how we plan on using him. I'm not afraid of competition, but I was thinking we'd maybe get a draft pick for the other back. And you don't give a guy that kind of money to be just a goal-line guy and in tough-yardage situations. So we'll see what happens," Johnson said.
Johnson is used to being the premier running back for Tennessee. Last season he rushed for 1,243 yards and six touchdowns. He has been one of their best offensive performers since being drafted in 2008. No running back has played a higher percentage of his team's offensive plays last season than Johnson. He was present on 81.63 percent of the Titan's snaps last season. He garnered 73 percent of their rushing attempts and rushing yards.
He claims to not want to carry the ball 30 or 40 times a game, but Johnson has also made claims that he will rush for over 2,000 yards, so carrying the ball for that many times would be necessary.
"And I don't mind a guy getting a carry or two. But if I am the main guy and it is supposed to be my team...it shouldn't be an issue," Johnson said.
Greene's contract with the team is not above average of what most running backs are signing for. Michael Bush received $3.5 million from the Chicago Bears to be a backup to Matt Forte. It is expected Greene will play on about 25 percent of the snaps for the Titans. Last season with the Jets, he rushed for 1,063 yards and eight touchdowns. Head coach Mike Munchak believes that Greene will be an option on all plays. They do no plan on just using him as a short-yardage back.
"We feel he can play all three downs. He may get a series where he gets going and we're taking over the line scrimmage and you want that runner in there and we leave him in there," Muchak said.
Paired alongside Johnson, the Titans should have one of the deadliest backfields in the NFL. Everything will depend on if Johnson can handle sharing the spotlight with someone else.
