Chris Johnson is acting differently this year. He's attending voluntary workouts for the first time in his career. It's like he knows something has to change after a disastrous 2011 season.
"Of course it motivates me because I want to do better than I did last year," Johnson told The Tennessean on Monday at the start of workouts. "I always like to get better and better every year. I feel like I didn't get better last year. There are a lot of things that go into it, but I'm not the type that's going to make excuses."
Cue the excuses underlying factors.
"There was the whole contract situation, no offseason, not really working with new coaches until a couple days before the first game," Johnson said.
Johnson expressed excitement about the addition of guard Steve Hutchinson, who should help a beleaguered Titans interior line. We think the line took too much of the blame for Johnson's struggles last season. It was his inability to make people miss in the open field that really stuck out.
Two years ago, Johnson looked like he could be an all-time great. Now we have no idea what we're going to get from him, but at least it sounds like Johnson realizes his career is at an early crossroads.
