NFL Notes: Calvin Johnson, Bengals, Jets

Calvin Johnson

Former Lions WR Calvin Johnson says that there’s no chance of him returning to the NFL, as he’s still dealing with ankle injuries from his playing career.

“I don’t [think so], man, cause I get up from the bed sometimes in the morning, I’m just like, I shuffle across the ground cause I can’t bend my ankles,” Johnson said, via the Detroit Free Press. “That was my problem when I played, just ankle’s always stuck or swelled up, I can’t flex them. If you can’t flex your ankles then you’re just running flat-footed all the time.”

Johnson added that he has no regrets about walking away from the NFL, even if it means he won’t make it into the Hall of Fame.

“It was my time,” Johnson said. “It was my time.”

Bengals

Bengals WR A.J. Green said the offense has a better understanding of their scheme now that OC Bill Lazor is entering his second season with the team.

“I love it. I feel like Bill is putting his stamp on the offense. Last year we had to wing a lot of stuff. But now he’s put it in with his own staff,” Green said, via Geoff Hobson of the Bengals’ official site. “The numbers system, at first, was pretty hard but once you learn the route tree the numbers comes pretty fast. As long as you know the number, you know what you have to do. It’s definitely easier. All you have to do is know the numbers and you figure out everything else.”

Bengals WRs coach Bob Bicknell said that second-year WR John Ross has been “really coming along” from what he’s seen in offseason workouts.

“He’s really coming along. He’s learning the offense well and he catches the ball really well,” Bicknell said. “We’ve got two or three deep plays where he’s been in position that we haven’t connected on, which is what we have to do to really be effective. Using your speed and using certain things in different routes and timing and all that, he can work on that a little bit. But I’m really impressed with how into it he is … He’s taken every rep he can.”

Jets

After four years with the Browns, the Jets signed veteran RB Isaiah Crowell to a three-year, $12 million contract this past March.

Crowell says he’s hoping to be a “big-time player” for the Jets prove that he can be an every-down back.

“I want to be a big-time player here,” Crowell said, via the New York Post. “I want to prove it to my coaches and my teammates that I’ve got what it takes to be an every-down back and help my team win games.”

Some of the things the Jets liked about Crowell was his toughness and slashing running style.

“We liked his toughness,” Jets HC Todd Bowles said of Crowell. “We liked the way he can slash through and cut. He is a tough runner. We think he is a pound-it back as well as having some versatile, lateral movement that can play out on the edge a little bit, and we thought he would be a great younger-leg type of Forte utility guy coming in. Maybe not the receiver that Forte is to a certain degree, but from a running-the-ball standpoint. We thought he helped in the backfield from a toughness standpoint.”