APThe holdout of Titans running back Chris Johnson is entering a fourth week, with no end in sight.? And yet coach Mike Munchak holds out hope that the end of the road is in sight.
?Chris needs to be here,? Munchak said Thursday, per Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.? ?He needs reps.? Does he need six weeks of reps?? No, he does not.? But he needs time just to get used to the system again, to get his feet under him.?
Munchak?s desire to see Johnson get ?reps? is a departure from the attitude previously expressed by G.M. Mike Reinfeldt, who has said he has no problem with Johnson reporting for camp, attending meetings, but not participating in practice or games until a new deal is negotiated.
Munchak also invoked the dreaded ?I? word.? ?We were hoping to have him here for that third and fourth [preseason] game so he can get some of the kinks out of his system, because no matter how special you are it is hard to step in and play at that level without having an injury problem,? Munchak said.
Johnson seems to be committed to staying away until the Titans offer a contract that transcends the currently devalued running back position.? Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk has become the latest former running back to support Johnson?s effort to get paid in a manner that reflects his total impact on the team.? Twice-former G.M. Charley Casserly (who some would say is a twice-former G.M. for a reason) believes the Titans should hold firm.
?The Titans have said they?d make [Johnson] the highest-paid running back and I think that is a fair statement,? Casserly said.? ?Positions have different values in the game and you just can?t stray from that.? I wouldn?t do it.?
But sometimes a guy is so good at a given position that he deserves not just $1 more than the next guy, but substantially more.? Johnson, with a 5.0-yard-per-carry average through three full seasons and the ability to hit a hole and disappear vertically on any given play, deserves substantially more than the next guy, even if the next guy is a bull-in-a-bowling-alley like Adrian Peterson.
Besides, Johnson has plenty of leverage.? He?s the best player the Titans have.? With him, they could make some noise in an AFC South that is more wide open than most realize.? Without him, they can?t legitimately expect to contend.
NFL owners wanted to scrap a rookie compensation system that gave enormous amounts to unproven players.? Now that the league has gotten its wish, some of those enormous amounts should go to the guys who have shown that they deserve it.
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