National Football League
All good? Chiefs banking on LB Johnson returning to form in '15
National Football League

All good? Chiefs banking on LB Johnson returning to form in '15

Published May. 13, 2015 4:03 p.m. ET

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Thanks to the miracles of modern medicine, "hopeless" is now "iffy." So, hey, there's that.

In October 2009, Foot & Ankle Specialist journal printed the results of a study on patterns and causes of Achilles tendon injuries in the NFL from 1997-2002. Its findings, if you happen to be a Kansas City Chiefs fan, are not particularly encouraging: Players discovered that they had "a greater than 50 percent reduction in their power ratings" after the injury. And 32 percent of those who ruptured an Achilles didn't play another regular-season NFL snap after the injury.

Short version: Terrell Suggs is the exception, kids. Not the rule.

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"No, it's not in the back of my mind," Chiefs inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, one of two defensive starters to lose almost all of 2014 to Achilles issues, said recently. "The bigger difference will be in (May), when I get on the field and see how I move out there. And mentally, it's been a while since my injury. But the big part about having a big injury, part of that is (dealing) mentally. And that part has to go away for you to succeed and get back to where you left off. That's my opportunity, that I'm trying to get back to where I left off."

In fact, the Chiefs seem to be banking on it. The NFL Draft can be one part chess match, two parts crapshoot, but general manager John Dorsey's 2015 haul, as opposed to the one in 2014, had an obvious vision and a shape, even if you didn't agree with the particular contours:

First and third round: Cover for Sean Smith, now and in the future.

Second round: An NFL-strong, NFL-smart blocker who can slot in wherever we need him, even at center.

Fourth and fifth rounds: Linebacker depth.

Now the argument has been made -- and reasonably -- that Dorsey could've switched offensive line and linebacker priorities around, addressing the latter first, especially given that we've now seen what life looks like without D.J., and seen, firsthand, the pros and cons of 16 weeks of Josh Mauga and James Michael-Johnson at the heart of the defensive front.

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Given that very specific needs were targeted, we can assume, then, that Dorsey and coach Andy Reid feel either:

a) very good about the aforementioned Mauga and JMJ (a contention some faithful could reasonably take issue with); or

b) even better that Derrick Johnson is very much close to, indeed, picking things up pretty much where he left them on a hot summer Sunday in September 2014.

Indeed, they seem to be damn well banking on it.

"The ankle is very flexible; my Achilles is doing great," D.J. said late last month. "(I) don't feel it at all doing strenuous workouts, weights, running fast, racing people. All that stuff is back."

How far back, we won't really know for a few weeks yet, when organized team activities begin public consumption toward the end of the month. Johnson, who turns 33 in November, feels good -- and he certainly looked it, addressing the scribes in late April at just under 230 pounds. He wants to play in the 235-240 range, lest the quickness and explosion start to drop. For inside linebackers and strong-safety types, the NFL is a lateral, coverage game now, as much as anything.

"I got a little taste of not being out there on the field with the guys, not being in meeting rooms," Johnson said. "That was a little bit of a taste of retirement, and I'm not ready for that at all. At all."

The Chiefs aren't ready, either. Or at least didn't feel ready enough to push inside linebacker up the draft pecking order, tapping Georgia's Ramik Wilson in the fourth round and Oregon State's D.J. Alexander in the fifth. As a Bulldog, Wilson was more your traditional run-stopping hammer; Alexander is reportedly a do-everything, hashmark-to-hashmark former track star. Neither is considered a lock to push Mauga or JMJ for time next to No. 56, and many scouts saw Alexander as more of a free-agent-level grab, a natural special teams plugger.

Wilson can get after it, too, but NFLDraftScout.com also made it a point to note that he could be a "liability in coverage, often leaving the field in college on third downs and obvious passing situations." For whatever that's worth.

Science and precedent consider D.J. something of an unknown himself, post-surgery. But Dorsey and Reid say they love his presence in the locker room, the way he's kept such an even keel over the emotional (and sometimes tragic) roller coasters on the roster over the past six years, the way he's tried to be everybody's big brother.

"It's been hard, it's been hard," Johnson continued. "But I've been through something harder than this and I think through my career, I was equipped for this. When I didn't start that one year, my fifth season (2009, under Todd Haley), that was harder than this. So it's one of those things where it was really hard to deal with going to the games all the time, looking at the guys having fun. Of course, I was in the locker room with them, high-fiving them and stuff. But at the same time, I wanted to be out there, too. It was very hard, very hard for me.

"But I knew I had to go through this time, get back to where I need to get to. ... I haven't been on the decline yet, so it's going to be a great opportunity to show everyone I've still got it."

In your face, science!

"I'm riding it out right now," the linebacker said. "I can go another three, four, five years. It's a mentality that I have. It's just the way my career has gone: In my later years, I've been better. ... If I can stay healthy, I'm going to ride it out."

Let it ride, cowboy. Johnson recorded four tackles before his injury against Tennessee in Week 1 of '14, leaving him at 985 stops for his career -- 15 short of breaking Gary Spani's franchise record. And if you know anything about D.J., you know this: The man likes to finish what he starts.

You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.

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