ChiefsPlanet - Chiefs Q&A W/LJ 9/10

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2009/09..._johnson__910/

Q: Are you ready to get the season going?

LARRY JOHNSON: “It’s been a long, long training camp, and a long off-season too I feel. It’s going to be great to get it started again. Obviously, starting off where I was born and raised in Maryland, it’ll definitely be fun for me to get going.”

Q: Have the Ravens given you any bulletin board material?

JOHNSON: “No, we kind of stay away from that stuff. The only thing that was put up was something that QB (Joe) Flacco said, which was ‘at the end of the game we wouldn’t want to play with them’ or something like that. I don’t pay attention to that because I don’t play defense. If a defensive player said that, then I would have my ears a little perked up. He’s confident in his team, and we’re confident in our team, also. It all comes down to when we start playing.”

Q: You probably have your ears perked up anyway going against guys like LB (Terrell) Suggs and LB (Ray) Lewis.

JOHNSON: “It’s something that I faced before when they were here (at Arrowhead in 2006). It was fun playing that game. I had never played against Ray Lewis, and I have the highest respect for Ray Lewis, and to be able to go against him play-in and play-out, it was fun for me. It’ll be fun to do that again.”

Q: Are you anxious to find out what you guys have here?

JOHNSON: “I think so. In the conference we play in, it will show everybody our strengths and weaknesses and what we really need to do. Coaches come and go and change, but there’s only one thing that’s stayed with Kansas City and that is our ability to run the football and our ability to put points on the board. That’s always stayed, regardless who is coach. So, I’m confident in that aspect of the game.”

Q: How tough is the Baltimore defense to run on?

JOHNSON: “They’re very tough to run on. It’s no cakewalk. They try to get you for every inch and every yard you ever gain. You’re going to get gang-tackled. Like I said, it’s a fun game, especially for a person who likes that aspect of the game, of being able to run the ball downhill and get hit by two or three guys. That’s usually what football is all about. It’s going to be fun to be able to go up against a tough defense like that so we can know what it’s like to play a defense like that when we go in to games after that.”

Q: Your offensive line has been in state of flux. With another new starter on offensive line, are those guys ready for this kind of challenge?

JOHNSON: “I think so. I think G Brian Waters is getting those guys ready, especially to go against that Baltimore front, something that he’s seen before, a lot more than I have . . . He’s seen all types of looks from that defense before, and I know he’ll get those guys ready.”

Q: Are you glad you weathered the storm and things are now looking different for you here in Kansas City?

JOHNSON: “The situations that I’ve been through since I’ve been here, things come and go and coaches come and go. You just take it one day at a time, one stride at a time and the only thing you can control is what you do on Sundays. That’s what is really in my mind right now as far as going into Baltimore and being able to play against that team.”

Q: Do you feel a lot different than you have in previous years?

JOHNSON: “I’m calm more than anything else. You get to a certain age, a certain spot in your life where you just feel comfortable. I think that’s what it is, is being able to be comfortable and focus on what I have to do Sunday, and really having certain guys around me that will help get me to the level that I was at a couple years ago, and hopefully do a lot better than I did those last two years.”

Q: There is always a sense of unknown. Are there more unknowns than other first games in past because of changes?

JOHNSON: “I think so. It’s just because it has been recent change. You just have to be able to take what’s given and see if we can apply it out on the field. Coaches can’t play, the owners won’t play for us, the GM won’t play for us, we have to go out there and play. All these guys that came in here, they played last year and the year before for other teams. It’s the same thing – you get up, you put your pants on and you go to work. As long as we figure out how to do that all together, I think we’ll be fine regardless of who the coach is, who calls the plays, because at the end of the day, we’re the ones that really have to execute.”

Q: Do you feel you can be the workhorse, the center of this offense again if need be?

JOHNSON: “If I can survive through a (head coach) Todd Haley training camp, I figure I can survive the season (laughs). We definitely worked hard enough and trained hard enough for me to just keep it going. We really had a rough training camp, we were in pads every single day it felt like. To go through that and not come out with a scratch, it feels good to go into a season because that’s when you have your most fun, when you go game-in and game-out, just having fun and doing the things you are capable of doing. It’s a lot different than training camp.”

Q: Can you be the guy that churns out the yards again and gets your offense moving?

JOHNSON: “I think so. When you’re able to run on a football team, it’s demoralizing to them because they feel like that can’t stop you. They’re doing nothing but going backwards and backwards physically. It’s good to be able to get that thing going if we can get it going Sunday and just keep pushing. If we do that and not make any mistakes, we can win this game.”