D.J. Needs To Start … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

“I could have been a douche bag and caused a lot of trouble and distractions. I’m not that kind of guy. But I do need to get on the field this year.”

That’s Derrick Johnson talking about his situation with the Chiefs — his hard to explain, hard to understand 2009 season when one of the most physically gifted players on the Kansas City defense could barely get on the grass.

It was a confusing, frustrating, angry time for the former No. 1 draft choice. After four seasons of full-time playing, he was suddenly a role player and there was no explanation from the head coach or his staff. But he did not act like a “douche bag” as he said. There was no explosion publicly or privately. He went about his business, getting on the field in the nickel defense and expressing only confusion with his inactivity.

Johnson was also right when he said the other day “I do need to get on the field this year.” There’s no doubt about that and given time, hopefully new defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel realizes that and finds a way to make better use of the physical skills Johnson can bring to his 3-4 defense. If Crennel can get that done, it will be a better coaching job than his predecessor last year in Clancy Pendergast.

If he does not, it doesn’t sound like Johnson is going to keep his mouth shut this time.

“When it’s training camp, and I’m working my butt off and staying healthy and I’m not out there with the first team, then we might have some problems,” Johnson said. “Right now, I’m a man on a mission.”

When a team goes 4-12 on a season, the mistakes are many. Some get charged off to the ledger of the players, others to the coaching staff and still others to the head coach. Last year’s mistake of not getting Johnson on the field more falls to head coach Todd Haley and Pendergast.

Their failure was never more evident than in the season finale at Denver, when Johnson had four tackles and two interceptions that he returned for touchdowns. Those scores made him just the third linebacker in NFL history to take back two interceptions for scores in the same game. The others were Chicago Cardinals LB Bill Blackburn in 1948 and San Francisco’s Ken Norton in 1995. It had been 10 years since a Chiefs defensive player had two touchdowns in a game; that was CB Cris Dishman in November of 1999 against Oakland.

It was a big play finish to a season with so few of those for both Johnson and the Kansas City defense. He had 33 total tackles, one sack, three interceptions and a forced fumble. He also added nine tackles on special teams, matching his total for the previous four seasons.

A little history is necessary to correctly frame this picture. Haley did not walk in last season and plan to pick on Johnson and pull him from the starting lineup. He did his homework on D.J. and had a foundation for his thoughts on the linebacker.

First, one must understand that the only job that Derrick Johnson has ever held has been as a professional football player. Growing up in Waco, Texas, he was a star in his home, the baby who was spoiled and generally got what he wanted. A new pair of Air Jordans? They were his. New warm-up gear? He got it.

He was a star at Waco High School and a star at University of Texas. Did he train and improve on the physical skills gifted to him at birth? Yes. Did he do all that he could? No; players as gifted as D.J. seldom do.

During his time with Gunther Cunningham as defensive coordinator (2005-08), Johnson had a problem with focus. From play-to-play, how he was going to react remained a mystery for the coaching staff. A very good play, followed by a good play, would be wiped out by a snap where he was out of position. At the end of the ‘08 season, Johnson was moved to inside linebacker in hopes of increasing his focus. Working on the inside had him making the defensive calls in the huddle, and forced him to stay in the game mentally. Had Cunningham and Herm Edwards come back for the ‘09 season, Johnson would have been a starter at middle linebacker.

At Texas, Johnson was a big-play maker and earned the Butkus Award and the Nagurski Trophy as the 2004 best college linebacker and defensive player. In 50 games for the Longhorns, he had 10.5 sacks, 10 interceptions, 11 forced fumbles and five recovered fumbles.

But those big plays did not show up as much in the NFL. Over his first four seasons in 59 games, he had 12 sacks, three interceptions, 10 forced fumbles and three recovered fumbles. Those were nice numbers, but they were not quite the expected production from the 15th player in the draft.

So Haley inherited an underachieving linebacker that had played on defenses that finished ranked No. 25, 16, 13 and 31 in yards allowed. The fact he was a former first-round draft choice carried no weight with the new head coach. He watched the tapes and saw what the previous coaching staff saw: a physically gifted athlete who wasn’t always where he needed to be on the field.

Then, Johnson got hurt in training camp. Throughout his career, he’s battled upper leg injuries, with frequent groin, quad and hamstring problems. Seldom did it knock him out of the lineup (he missed five games in four seasons.) But this time it was a problem. Haley wasn’t holding a spot for Johnson in the starting lineup. Others were on the field and getting things done, specifically Corey Mays and then later in the pre-season Demorrio Williams, who had to overcome his own injury (knee) to get a shot.

“I think what started it was not being healthy,” Johnson said. “There wasn’t talk of anything until I got hurt.”

After that, there wasn’t talk of much of anything with D.J. He never got his starting job back and it was a struggle to find a spot in the lineup for him.

“I don’t think it was necessary and I always disagreed with it,” Johnson said. “What can you do? You’ve got to keep working. You can’t be a distraction to the team. You can’t be selfish. I think there’s always something you can do better. I’ve tried to focus on that.”

The situation was unnecessary and should never have happened. Haley and Pendergast should have been able to find a middle ground that would have gotten Johnson on the field more often, and put into positions to make some of the big plays that were so lacking from the ‘09 defense.

Johnson missed the Philadelphia game last September (groin) and there were three other games where he did not have a tackle. There were four other games when he had just one tackle. That’s half the season and a total contribution of four tackles. That’s a crime for a player as talented as Johnson and a defense that was not playing very well like the ‘09 Chiefs.

There were big contributions in other games, including seven tackles against Pittsburgh and four against Washington, Buffalo and at Denver. The Steelers, Redskins and Broncos were three of the four victories the team had last season.

Through it all, Johnson answered the questions from the media, family and friends and tried not to allow the situation to hurt his attitude.

“If you keep working, the opportunity will come,” Johnson said. “I’m working hard; the coaches know I’m working hard. They know my mindset and that’s to be the best football player I can be in 2010. I still believe in my ability.”

At the end of the ‘09 season, Johnson said there was no discussion with Haley and the coaching staff about his situation. There wasn’t much he could do about his status since he was caught in the change in the collective bargaining agreement that went down this year, creating a season without a salary cap in the NFL. After five seasons, Johnson should have been an unrestricted free agent this year and able to leave the Chiefs. Instead, he was a restricted free agent and after the team gave him a tender offer that would have required first-round compensation if another team tried to sign him, Johnson’s chances of getting out of Arrowhead in 2010 disappeared. He’ll make $2.621 million this year.

“They (the Chiefs) think better about me than people think they do, or they wouldn’t have put the tender offer on me,” Johnson said. “”I’ve got a one-year deal here, so I’ve got to get on the field. I like being a Chief.”

He will like it in 2010 only if he’s part of the starting lineup. For a lot of reasons, some personal and some business, it’s important for Johnson to have a big season. That’s his only ticket to a bigger payday in free agency next season. He also wants to be part of a Chiefs team that electrifies the fans at Arrowhead Stadium, like he was during his first two seasons in the league.

“This is all I’ve known,” said Johnson. “I know Arrowhead is a great stadium when we are winning, it’s hard to beat us at Arrowhead. That’s what we’ve got to prove on Monday night in the first game (against San Diego.) I want to get this done around here.”

What Derrick Johnson wants to get done is playing time for the Chiefs defense in 2010. He wants to be part of Crennel’s starting group.

“Right now it’s early,” Johnson said. “Everybody is trying to learn the scheme. The coaches have told us the depth chart is really not a priority for them right now. They see me working. They see me as the first guy running through the drills, beating everybody. They see the work. It’s early. I’m out there with the second team right now, but it’s early.

“When we get to training camp, that’s when we separate the men from the boys. If I stay healthy in training camp and with my ability, I think I can do great things for this defense and yes, I can start.”

NFL PERSONNEL FILE/MAY 21-22-23

• BEARS – Pro Football Hall of Fame lineman Stan Jones passed away. He joined the Chicago roster out of the University of Maryland in 1954 and played through the 1966 season with the Bears and one year with the Redskins. He spent most of those seasons at guard, where he was named to seven straight Pro Bowls. He was 78 years old and died of complications from heart disease at his daughter’s home in suburban Denver. Jones spent 18 years coaching with the Denver Broncos.
• BRONCOS – signed 7th-round draft choice CB Syd’Quan Thompson to a 4-year contract, with a signing bonus of $60,000.
• PATRIOTS – claimed QB Mike Teel on waivers after he was released by the Seahawks; released QB Jeff Rowe, a former 5th-round draft choice in ‘07; released TE Robbie Agnone, who spent the ‘09 season on the New England practice squad as an undrafted college free agent.
• TEXANS – WR Andre Johnson hired a new agent to represent him in hopes of getting a redone deal from Houston. He fired his uncle Andre Melton and hired Kennard McGuire.
• VIKINGS – released undrafted rookie WR Kelton Tindal, a Division II player out of Newberry College; signed WR Logan Payne, who spent two weeks on the Chiefs practice squad last season – he was an undrafted rookie free agent out of the University of Minnesota in ‘07 and has spent time with the Seattle, Detroit and the Chiefs; QB Brett Favre had surgery last week on his left ankle. “This is to confirm that I did have a procedure to remove some scar tissue and bone spurs from my ankle which had been bothering me for a period of time,” the quarterback said in the statement posted on his website.