Lewis believes Mike Johnson's knee injury not major; Oklahoma Drill scratched again

[Arkansas Bengal]

Lewis believes Mike Johnson's knee injury not major; Oklahoma Drill scratched again

 

Posted 4 hours ago

Geoff Hobson Editor Bengals.com

 

The unbearable tension and heartbreak eased enough  by the end of practice that Michael Johnson’s head coach and agent were at least able to smile and sense relief  about the knee injury he suffered Sunday during the Bengals’ first day in shoulder pads.

Lewis said he felt good enough about the on-field examination by team doctors Marc Galloway and Kevin Reilly that he feels there is no major damage and that Johnson “should be OK.”

“We had enough hands on him,” said Lewis with a laugh. “The best thing is their exam. They’ve always been 100 percent with me from wherever it stands on those battlefield exams. They’re pretty accurate and I feel pretty good about it.”

Rather than a season-ending blown ACL, which is how it first appeared, it’s sounding more and more like a sprained MCL, which takes in the neighborhood of four to six weeks to rehab. It’s believed X-Rays or an MRI are pending.

Former Bengals defensive tackle John Thornton, Johnson’s agent, arrived at the practice just in time to see Johnson get tangled up in the last play of a nine-on-seven drill. He stood up before sitting down on a cart that wheeled him to the locker room. After spending time with Johnson later, Thornton was upbeat.

“He can’t remember how it happened. He’s in good spirits,” Thornton said. “He’s talking about getting his 10-sack  ($4 million) incentive.”

The sequence cast quite a pall over Johnson’s teammates and the estimated crowd of 1,900, the biggest of the opening weekend of training camp. Johnson, a fan favorite and an enormously popular teammate, had made a triumphant return to Cincinnati in free agency back in March after a year hiatus. It’s hoped his reunion with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Geno Atkins gets the Bengals defense closer to that No. 3 NFL ranking in 2013 after a No. 22 showing last season.

Before Galloway helped him get to his feet, the 28-year-Johnson asked to say a prayer.

“I said, ‘I’m with you Mike,’” Lewis said. “Hopefully the Lord heard us. But that’s so typical of Michael.”

From a pragmatic standpoint, Lewis wants to look at the tape to make sure the Bengals’ approach on the play didn’t cause the injury since he preaches all the time to his players about staying on their feet during practice.

From a psychological standpoint, he knows how tough it is for everyone involved. He just has to go back two years ago and the badly broken leg of defensive tackle Larry Black, a rookie from the Cincinnati suburb of Wyoming.

“It’s tough when it happens in a game. It’s certainly more difficult when it happens out here in practice for his position mates and his teammates. I understand that,” Lewis said. “(After) 36 years of coaching, (24) in the NFL, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been coaching when it happens. It’s never good. I don’t care who or what  it is.”

Even before Johnson’s injury, Lewis had scratched the Oklahoma Drill for Monday. The ancient tough guy drill where an offensive player tries to make a block on a defender trying to tackle the ball-carrier tucked behind the offensive player, had been a staple of Lewis’ first day in full pads up until last year. No reason was ever given last year for taking it off the schedule, but they ranged from the weather to favoring the half-line drill.

But with full pads on Monday, Lewis made it clear there is no room left for such drills like the Oklahoma Drill that lead to such player vulnerability. Fresh with a four-year, $20 million deal in hand, what happened to Johnson is another reminder.

“We’ve progressed beyond that. We know who the tough guys are around here,” Lewis said. “We’ll have a format not called (The Oklahoma). We’ll get our work in.

“You  only have so many (players) and some are shinier than others. You want to keep as many of the shiny ones as healthy as you can. Hopefully we shine some others. (Johnson) is a shiny one, just what he means as a player and as a man to the team. We have to pick it up.”

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Lewis-believes-Mike-Johnsons-knee-injury-not-major-Oklahoma-Drill-scratched-again/3dff3051-7404-4d4e-84ef-a9740a56c085

[Le Tigre]

Smart man, that Marvin.

[|Harley|]

Wasn't it Jay Hayes fighting against the OK drill last year? Or maybe on Hard Knocks.

[|Bunghole|]

I'm guessing Johnson just has a sports hernia of the knee or some kind of bone bruise. He'll be a'ight.