ASHBURN — Ever since Jeron Johnson left the Seattle Seahawks, he was looking forward to the opportunity to step out of the shadows of Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas and into a starting role.
It wasn’t that Johnson didn’t enjoy his time in Seattle, but in four seasons he only started one game, though it was mostly because he was backing up the league’s best safety tandem.
He signed a two-year, $4 million deal with Washington in March — the only problem was the playing time never came. When starting strong safety Duke Ihenacho was placed on injured reserve after fracturing his left wrist in Week 1. The Redskins turned to backup free safety Trenton Robinson, not Johnson.
“I never swayed away from being a team player, but when I first got here, I came in with intentions of trying to compete for that starting job,” Johnson said. “I just had to keep faith and remain humble. It was a humbling experience, just had to step forward with humility and patience in waiting for my opportunity.”
Nine weeks later, Johnson’s opportunity finally came. He played 49 snaps against New England after Robinson struggled and he started last week against New Orleans. Veteran cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who returned against the Saints after missing five games with a toe sprain, played safety in sub packages, while Johnson played mostly on first and second downs.
That will likely be the case on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Robinson is out with a hamstring injury, but Johnson was likely starting anyways even if Robinson was healthy.
“JJ has done good,” coach Jay Gruden said on Friday. “You know, T-Rob [Trenton Robinson] really had a strong training camp and won the job. He was impressive, not to take anything away from what JJ did, it’s just we had to pick one and we picked Trenton to start out the season. JJ is a very smart player, very good tackler and he’s ready. He won’t have a problem stepping in there. He’s a good, solid football player — got him from Seattle, obviously — and knows the game and studies the game and he’ll be a help for us.”
Johnson’s tackling stood out against New England, particularly his open-field takedowns against tight end Rob Gronkowski and running back LeGarrette Blount.
He’s looking forward to getting his nose dirty again on Sunday against a Carolina team that his hard to tackle with big-bodied runners like quarterback Cam Newton and running backs Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert.
“You just got to be willing to stick your head in there and come up with a body part,” Johnson said. “In the preseason, I missed a crucial one against Detroit so my tackling, ever since then, every rep I try to improve.”
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