The Facts:
According to ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky, something surprised him a bit in Johnson's answers to questions about his role as a pass catcher in 2012. “I think I was a little bit more involved in the pass offense [under former OC Mike Heimerdinger),” Johnson said. “But with the situation that we’ve got here, since I got here we got a lot of playmakers on this offense. I feel like it’s a different situation, if there’s a lot of us contributing, a lot of us making plays, I feel like it’s not a bad thing that I probably don’t get as many catches as I usually do.”
Reported by ESPN.com
Fantasy Football Diehards Line:
As Kuharsky pointed out, Johnson’s never talked about a willingness to take less of anything -- be it carries, yards, receptions, money or declarations about his speed. So it's interesting to see him concede this point. Of course, we're talking about a guy who pulled in a career-best 57 receptions with Heimerdinger's replacement, Chris Palmer, calling the shots last season. Still, Johnson said the way he was used as a pass target by Heimerdinger in 2009 and 2010 and the way he was used last year as Palmer took over the post were different. Injuries may have led the Titans to look to him more often than they would have liked, and coming from a West Coast offense system, Matt Hasselbeck may have looked to his back sooner and more often than Palmer's more vertical plan will want -- especially when a full-speed Kenny Britt joins Nate Washington, rookie Kendall Wright and Jared Cook at some point. Positives? Kuharsky believes Johnson's willingness to understand how being used less as a pass target could actually be a good thing. It might even be another reason Johnson bulked up this offseason.
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