Q&A with DERRICK JOHNSON - 6/4

[aturnis]

Q&A with DERRICK JOHNSON - 6/4 (http://kcchiefs.com/news/2008/06/04/qa_with_derrick_johnson__64/)
Jun 04, 2008, 4:11:57 PM

VIDEO: Windows | Real | Audio

Q: How’s it going for you now that your in your third week of OTAs and you start mini- camp on Friday?

JOHNSON: “Well the coaches are really turning it up right now. Shoot, I probably had 16-17 plays in a row. They’re really pushing us, trying to get us ready because this thing is going to wind up pretty soon, and we’ll be off and training camp will be here before you know it.”

Q: What about now that Gunther is your linebacker coach, could you just talk about that? What is like to not only have him as your defensive coordinator, but also your linebackers coach?

JOHNSON: “I don’t know what to say about that, but Gun is real passionate about his work. Real passionate, I am can say that real softly! Gun has been in game for a long time, he knows what he’s talking about. To actually have a defensive coordinator actually teaching me all the techniques and the rules of the game it’s big. I have been learning so much now, probably more than from the last three years from Gun.”

Q: Is this the year that you kind of have to put it all together. Sometimes you start out real strong then things trail off. Is this the year for you?

JOHNSON: “This is the year for me, knowing that my young career has been progressing each year. I have been getting better and better, so this year is kind like college it’s my senior year. So I am about to pull out all the stops. Gun’s been telling me he’s got all the plays to turn me loose and let me make plays, we’ll see how it goes this year.”

Q: You’re not really a young person on this team. You have to be a veteran and keep getting better, how do you balance that?

JOHNSON: “Donnie Edwards told me today ‘You know what? You’re not as young as I think you are looking at all these other the rookies and free agents we got in right now.’ So I am older, and I am taking an older role on this team by being more of a vocal leader on this team, letting guys know that I am here to win and that you can count on me”

Q: When you talk about making plays and taking the next step, what does that next step involve?.

JOHNSON: “Being more consistent. You’ve probably seen me in the past where last year I have a good game, and do something wild and some games it’s like ‘Ok, where’s DJ?’ This time it’s every game I’m trying to make a play if I can, and if I can I going to try to make a way to do it.”

Q: There have been games where you’ll have a dynamite first quarter. Are people reacting as the game goes along or what’s happening there?

JOHNSON: “Well you just have to adjust. Teams are good. They are going to adjust to what they see. If you are doing something good they are go away from it and do something else. I have got to change my game up or make sure and I let the coaches know what’s going on so they can put me in the right place to make plays.”

Q: That word consistency seems to be that word because Brodie (Croyle) used it as well about his play and that everybody has to consistent?

JOHNSON: “Well to be good you have to be consistent. I mean talking to Priest Holmes, talking to Tony Gonzalez, talking to all the great people, consistency is the key”

Q: Is that hard to do, I mean when you think your doing it, being consistent, and maybe the coaches say you’re not?

JOHNSON: “Right, well it’s more about when you’re doing well you can get complacent. You’ve got to know that teams are working harder, everybody’s working harder just to be better than you. So every time you do something good, you’ve got to find ways to do it again or pick have you make the next play.”

Q: There is a lot of steps before the season gets ready, but the fans get to see you for the first time on Saturday (at open mini-camp practice at Arrowhead.) Do the players get excited about that at all or does it make it more real?

JOHNSON: “Definitely…Definitely! When you start smelling the popcorn and everything we get wired up just like a real game. Hopefully no one gets hurt out there. But it’s fun to see the fans, the fans support us so much. I mean to go out there and see them, that will even give us more energy. Right now, we are so tired, if we had fans out here today, we probably would have run around a little bit better, but today we were really tired.”

[Rasputin]

Go DJ!!!

[Hammock Parties]

This year's defensive highlight video is jam-packed with DJ making plays. Next year he gets his own 4-year retrospective fo sho.

[Rasputin]

With Glenn Dorsey & Tank Tyler DJ should be able to break lose.

[Buehler445]

With Glenn Dorsey & Tank Tyler DJ should be able to break lose.

I certainly hope so. I thought with the piss poor shape our D line was in that Tank would have started for sure. Hopefully he develops into a monster. He has the potential.

[Rasputin]

I certainly hope so. I thought with the piss poor shape our D line was in that Tank would have started for sure. Hopefully he develops into a monster. He has the potential.

I agree, I had (have) high hopes for Tank thought he was a better pick than Turk McBride. Wasn't too happy about the Turk pick but thought they made up for it with Tank. We shall see how both those guys & Tamba Hali turn out this year.

Glenn Dorsey is going to be a force regardless & I think DJ is going to take advantage of that.

[stlchiefs]

Wow what worthless interview questions. They should have asked him if Consistency was important.

[milkman]

Wow what worthless interview questions. They should have asked him if Consistency was important.

Well, at least the KC reporters are consistent in the suckage.

[Rain Man]

Wow what worthless interview questions. They should have asked him if Consistency was important.

Perhaps my favorite interview quote ever was when some reporter asked Herm if Ryan Sims gave a consistent effort. His answer was, "Yes, but not always."

[StcChief]

better DL should help DJ's play, time for more Tackles for Loss.

[blueballs]

Time to graduate
Jun 05, 2008, 8:45:10 AM by Jonathan Rand - FAQ


Though it’s possible to build a dominating defense with 11 very solid players, it’s more feasible when you have at least a few stars. When Herm Edwards took over the Chiefs in 2006, they had not boasted a Pro Bowl defensive player since 2003, and did not have another one until Jared Allen led the NFL in sacks last year.

Now that Allen has been traded, the Chiefs need another defensive player to post a breakout season and replace some of the energy and leadership that Allen provided. On anybody’s list of candidates to fill that role, Johnson, the Chiefs’ first-round draft choice in 2005, would be at or near the top.

“This is the year for me,” he said after Wednesday’s off-season workout. “Knowing my career has progressed each year, it’s kind of like college. This is my senior year.”

Johnson’s gradual progress has been a mixed blessing. He did not experience the clumsy initiation that befalls many a highly touted rookie. Yet he hasn’t made the quantum leap by which up-and-coming stars announce that they’ve arrived.

Johnson, who plays the left outside spot, became the Chiefs’ first rookie linebacker in nearly two decades to start all 16 games. He also played credibly in 2006, despite missing three games because of injury. Then in 2007, he ranked third on the team with 107 tackles, tied for second with two interceptions, tied for first with three forced fumbles and was the runaway leader with 16 tackles for losses.

Now, Johnson says he wants to step up to an even higher level of play.

“I want to be a little more consistent,” he said. “I’ll have a good game, then (people say), ‘Where is D.J.?’ Every game, I’m going to try to make plays. Every time I do something good, I have to find a way to do it again.”

Though Johnson, 6 feet 3 and 242, was drafted by Dick Vermeil, his ability to cover a lot of ground makes him a good fit for Edwards’ Tampa Two defense. Actually, Johnson is versatile enough to fit into any coach’s defense.

He’s big and strong enough to play the strong side. Yet he can also make the big plays typically associated with a fast and sleek weak-side linebacker. Johnson’s four sacks last year ranked third on the team, behind ends Allen and Tamba Hali.

Johnson has an eye on making more big plays this year after listening to Gunther Cunningham, the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. “Gun says he’s going to turn me loose and let me make plays,” Johnson said.

When told of that remark, Edwards smiled and implied Johnson was putting the horse before the cart. “When you’re ahead on defense, you always have the ability to turn guys loose and go after the quarterback,” Edwards said. “That’s what he’s talking about.”

In other words, a defense has to set the table for itself before it can switch into big-play mode. The more often the Chiefs can force opponents into obvious passing situations, the more often they can take best advantage of their top pass rushers, including Johnson.

“He can be a tremendous blitzer,” Edwards said. “He can be very good at pass coverage because he has great ball skills, a lot of range and has the height and long arms. He can be a heck of a football player.

“He’s matured every year and I think he’s anticipating a good year. He’s going to be a bigger player for us this year. And he needs to be.”


155 votes

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.