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Calvin Johnson (Link inside now) (1 Viewer)

I do not have a link so if anyone has one please post, but did anyone else hear this? Has his back healed at all in the offseason or could this be a chronic issue? I will keep looking for a link and if I find one I will post it......

 
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Link

Calvin Johnson ready for big numbers

Sunday, April 20, 2008By Tom Kowalski

ALLEN PARK -- If it was the lunch hour, Calvin Johnson was usually nowhere to be found.

Almost every day during the week in the regular season, reporters are allowed to interview players in the locker room for a 45-minute period. During Johnson's rookie season last year, he almost always spent that time eating lunch or working out or just killing time somewhere -- anywhere -- until those pesky reporters would finally leave.

"I knew people would ask about it and I didn't want to talk about it," said Johnson, who is currently taking part in the team's off-season workouts at Allen Park.

Johnson doesn't like to talk to the media much anyway, but what he didn't want to discuss was his season, which was decent by most standards but fell short of the expectation of a second overall draft pick. Johnson caught 48 passes for 756 yards and four touchdowns; he also scored on a 32-yard run.

Did the Lions make a huge mistake? Critics sounded off all year -- they should've drafted Adrian Peterson. They should've drafted Joe Thomas. They should've drafted Patrick Willis.

What Johnson didn't want to talk about is the fact that he never got healthy after suffering a deep bone bruise in his lower back in the third game of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles. Johnson continued to play most of the games, but was nowhere near full strength.

"I was on meds the rest of the season. I was taking Vicodin twice a game just to get through the game," Johnson said. "I stayed hurt the whole season, probably because I was trying to come back too soon. But I'm not going to be the kind of guy who's going to say, 'I can't do this or this because I'm hurt.' "

Fans did not know how severely Johnson was hurt, and it took the coaching staff some time to realize it, too.

Then-offensive coordinator Mike "Martz couldn't stand the fact that I wasn't practicing," Johnson said. "When I first got hurt, that Wednesday I was out there in my sweats watching practice and he told me to go run. I said, 'I can't run.' I couldn't even walk fast. I was thinking, 'Why are you telling me to run?' "

"He stayed hurt because he kept landing on it," Lions trainer Al Bellamy said. "It kept lingering."

After missing one gamethe game after Philly, Johnson was back in the lineup. He entered the starting lineup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that's when he had one of his most memorable plays. Stiff-arming defenders and shedding would-be tacklers like they were Pop Warner players, Johnson scored on an electrifying 32-yard end around.

"In college, one of his best games was against Virginia when he was hurt with a deep thigh bruise," said Eric Ciano, Johnson's strength and conditioning coach at Georgia Tech. "He had some of his best games when he was banged up. He just doesn't complain. He's not a training-room type of guy."

"I've played with injuries before, but I've never had anything like this," Johnson said. "I didn't have my explosion."

Johnson said he still feels some discomfort from the injury, but Bellamy said Johnson will be 100 percent by training camp.

"I had almost 800 yards last year and I'm not saying I could double that, but I can put up 1,200 yards." Johnson said. "I did that in college in 14 games. I expect the highest out of myself, and I put big numbers in front of myself as goals. I'll get 1,000 yards, no doubt."
Mike Martz is a menace.
 
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I find it interesting that Martz continues to be praised as a "genius" or offensive mastermind. It seems the book on him has become, "I wouldn't want him as a head coach but I would love him as an offensive coordinator" and, yet, I just don't see that. He is completely unequipped to adopt an offensive scheme that veers from a spread attack and, as a result, puts his QB in harms way down after down. Just makes no sense. By letting Martz call the plays, you are essentially gambling that winning now through the air is worth more than the long-term health of your key skill players.

 
I find it interesting that Martz continues to be praised as a "genius" or offensive mastermind. It seems the book on him has become, "I wouldn't want him as a head coach but I would love him as an offensive coordinator" and, yet, I just don't see that. He is completely unequipped to adopt an offensive scheme that veers from a spread attack and, as a result, puts his QB in harms way down after down. Just makes no sense. By letting Martz call the plays, you are essentially gambling that winning now through the air is worth more than the long-term health of your key skill players.
Ditto.Accomplishments of Mike Martz without HOFers Faulk, Holt, Bruce: ZERO.Oh yeah, 1 other note. He failed in the Super Bowl with a superior team as a HC because he was totally outcoached.
 
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I find it interesting that Martz continues to be praised as a "genius" or offensive mastermind. It seems the book on him has become, "I wouldn't want him as a head coach but I would love him as an offensive coordinator" and, yet, I just don't see that. He is completely unequipped to adopt an offensive scheme that veers from a spread attack and, as a result, puts his QB in harms way down after down. Just makes no sense. By letting Martz call the plays, you are essentially gambling that winning now through the air is worth more than the long-term health of your key skill players.
If I'm Hill or Smith from SF I'm hoping the other guys wins the starting job in training camp. The beatings that QBs take in a Martz scheme almost guarantees that the #2 guy will be in by week #5 or so. By week #10 JT O'Sullivan will be slinging the ball in SF.
 
I find it interesting that Martz continues to be praised as a "genius" or offensive mastermind. It seems the book on him has become, "I wouldn't want him as a head coach but I would love him as an offensive coordinator" and, yet, I just don't see that. He is completely unequipped to adopt an offensive scheme that veers from a spread attack and, as a result, puts his QB in harms way down after down. Just makes no sense. By letting Martz call the plays, you are essentially gambling that winning now through the air is worth more than the long-term health of your key skill players.
Ditto.Accomplishments of Mike Martz without HOFers Faulk, Holt, Bruce: ZERO.Oh yeah, 1 other note. He failed in the Super Bowl with a superior team as a HC because he was totally outcoached.
and got out filmed.
 
I find it interesting that Martz continues to be praised as a "genius" or offensive mastermind. It seems the book on him has become, "I wouldn't want him as a head coach but I would love him as an offensive coordinator" and, yet, I just don't see that. He is completely unequipped to adopt an offensive scheme that veers from a spread attack and, as a result, puts his QB in harms way down after down. Just makes no sense. By letting Martz call the plays, you are essentially gambling that winning now through the air is worth more than the long-term health of your key skill players.
Amen to that! This reason alone has me moving Gore DOWN my draft board. People are expecting Martz to make Gore into Faulk. It aint happenin!
 
I do not have a link so if anyone has one please post, but did anyone else hear this? Has his back healed at all in the offseason or could this be a chronic issue? I will keep looking for a link and if I find one I will post it......
sarcasmDon't post things you don't have links to... nor anything you have heard on the radio or TV.

sarcasm

 
I find it interesting that Martz continues to be praised as a "genius" or offensive mastermind. It seems the book on him has become, "I wouldn't want him as a head coach but I would love him as an offensive coordinator" and, yet, I just don't see that. He is completely unequipped to adopt an offensive scheme that veers from a spread attack and, as a result, puts his QB in harms way down after down. Just makes no sense. By letting Martz call the plays, you are essentially gambling that winning now through the air is worth more than the long-term health of your key skill players.
Amen to that! This reason alone has me moving Gore DOWN my draft board. People are expecting Martz to make Gore into Faulk. It aint happenin!
Well, I would be careful about that. Martz' backs do catch a ton of passes if they're capable, and Gore is more than capable of catching passes.
 
I find it interesting that Martz continues to be praised as a "genius" or offensive mastermind. It seems the book on him has become, "I wouldn't want him as a head coach but I would love him as an offensive coordinator" and, yet, I just don't see that. He is completely unequipped to adopt an offensive scheme that veers from a spread attack and, as a result, puts his QB in harms way down after down. Just makes no sense. By letting Martz call the plays, you are essentially gambling that winning now through the air is worth more than the long-term health of your key skill players.
Amen to that! This reason alone has me moving Gore DOWN my draft board. People are expecting Martz to make Gore into Faulk. It aint happenin!
Well, I would be careful about that. Martz' backs do catch a ton of passes if they're capable, and Gore is more than capable of catching passes.
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
 
Andy Dufresne said:
pizzatyme said:
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
Not really. Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson/Arnaz Battle isn't the worst trio in the league.
While they're certainly better than last season, none of those WRs will scare defenses at this point. The focus will still be on stopping Gore. That just wasn't the case with Faulk. That's all I'm saying.

Over/under on Bruce's GP? I'll go 10.

It still comes down to Alex Smith. I'd be worried as a 9ers fan.

 
Andy Dufresne said:
pizzatyme said:
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
Not really. Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson/Arnaz Battle isn't the worst trio in the league.
While they're certainly better than last season, none of those WRs will scare defenses at this point. The focus will still be on stopping Gore. That just wasn't the case with Faulk. That's all I'm saying.

Over/under on Bruce's GP? I'll go 10.

It still comes down to Alex Smith. I'd be worried as a 9ers fan.
True dat.
 
a football player taking pain killers is not news ....... it's a job requirment.
Yeah, but 2 Vicodin on gamedays? I've taken one Vicodin and it put me on my ###. Taking two, during games no less, and still playing is unreal, IMO.
1 Vicodin is 5mg hydrocodone. 10mg isn't a lot, especially when you take his size into consideration. Hell, I take 50mg of hydrocodone a day because of my back.
 
Andy Dufresne said:
pizzatyme said:
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
Not really. Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson/Arnaz Battle isn't the worst trio in the league.
Just curious...who is worse IYO?
 
Andy Dufresne said:
pizzatyme said:
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
Not really. Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson/Arnaz Battle isn't the worst trio in the league.
Just curious...who is worse IYO?
Titans are much worse.Dolphins (although I like Ginn)

Jaguars

Broncos

Bears

Buccaneers

Eagles and Seahawks are close

 
I find it interesting that Martz continues to be praised as a "genius" or offensive mastermind. It seems the book on him has become, "I wouldn't want him as a head coach but I would love him as an offensive coordinator" and, yet, I just don't see that. He is completely unequipped to adopt an offensive scheme that veers from a spread attack and, as a result, puts his QB in harms way down after down. Just makes no sense. By letting Martz call the plays, you are essentially gambling that winning now through the air is worth more than the long-term health of your key skill players.
Ditto.Accomplishments of Mike Martz without HOFers Faulk, Holt, Bruce: ZERO.Oh yeah, 1 other note. He failed in the Super Bowl with a superior team as a HC because he was totally outcoached.
Well, among other reasons.
 
Andy Dufresne said:
pizzatyme said:
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
Not really. Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson/Arnaz Battle isn't the worst trio in the league.
Just curious...who is worse IYO?
Well, I didn't make the statement, but IMO:Definitely:

Dolphins

Titans

Eagles

Bears

Seahawks

Possibly:

Jets

Ravens

Jags

Vikings

Bucs

Bruce is old, and while he may no longer be great, at 70% of what he was he's still very good. It's hard to say what Bryant Johnson can do as a starter, but he was a 1st rounder and has looked pretty good in stretches behind two of the best WRs in the league. Battle, when healthy, was a not a solid "starter" but should be better than average at #3.

Overall, if Bruce can stay reasonably healthy, that crew should be in the middle of the pack.

 
Andy Dufresne said:
pizzatyme said:
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
Not really. Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson/Arnaz Battle isn't the worst trio in the league.
Just curious...who is worse IYO?
Well, I didn't make the statement, but IMO:Definitely:

Dolphins

Titans

Eagles

Bears

Seahawks
:mellow: I don't think the Vikings can be included in the list. I think Sidney Rice is going to surprise people this year, and Bernard Berrian (while not the talent most in MN seem to think) is also pretty good. And Bobby Wade is a decent option from the slot. Don't take this as an argument that they're elite. They're average but not poor.

 
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Andy Dufresne said:
pizzatyme said:
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
Not really. Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson/Arnaz Battle isn't the worst trio in the league.
Just curious...who is worse IYO?
Titans are much worse.Dolphins (although I like Ginn)

Jaguars

Broncos

Bears

Buccaneers

Eagles and Seahawks are close
All this talk about bad WR core's and no mention of the Bills?
 
Andy Dufresne said:
pizzatyme said:
Catching it from Warner/Bulger and Alex Smith are 2 different things. Plus their WR corps is brutal! I'm worried about Gore finishing the season.
Not really. Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson/Arnaz Battle isn't the worst trio in the league.
Just curious...who is worse IYO?
Titans are much worse.Dolphins (although I like Ginn)

Jaguars

Broncos

Bears

Buccaneers

Eagles and Seahawks are close
All this talk about bad WR core's and no mention of the Bills?
Put them in the Eagles/Seahawks category. At least they have Lee Evans.
 
Broncos don't belong on that list. Marshall, Stokley, and DJax are easily better than what SF has.

In fact, if anything, the Saint's WR's should be on there ahead of Denver as there is still no legit #2.

 
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Broncos don't belong on that list. Marshall, Stokley, and DJax are easily better than what SF has.
Mmmm. Okay. But only for Marshall and Stokley, not DJax. Dude is done. If San Francisco didn't want him, what use is DJax?
We'll see this year if DJax is done. I'm not expecting top 10 #'s, but I think he has plenty to offer still. I wouldn't use the fact that SF cutting him as a sign that he's done as SF isn't exactly showing itself to be a very good evaluator of talent lately. But yes, DJax factored very little into that comment. We know what Marshall can do and Stokley chipped in another 40/635/5 on his 1st year on the team playing as a #3 for 3 weeks and only playing in 13 games. No way I take SF WR's over Denver's. Not even close.
 
Is anyone concerned if Calvin will be fully healed from this or is this the type of thing that could linger or be easily reinjured?

Must say I am at least a tiny bit concerned about this. You don't want to mess with back injuries, they can last a lifetime.

 
Is anyone concerned if Calvin will be fully healed from this or is this the type of thing that could linger or be easily reinjured? Must say I am at least a tiny bit concerned about this. You don't want to mess with back injuries, they can last a lifetime.
From my experience, it can linger. I first hurt my back playing back yard football a little over 11 years ago. Granted my injury happened differently than Megatrons. I was hit in my low back by the defender and C. J. landed flat on his back IIRC. I also had a compression fracture and I don't think he did. Anyway when I first hurt my back it took about 6 weeks before it started feeling better. Then I would be stupid and wrestle around or something and re aggravate it. Then it took 8 weeks and then 4 months and this went on and on until the pain finally never went away. So if I were giving advice to anyone who hurts their back. It would be let it heal completely. Don't do nothing but be careful with what you do.
 
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