David Johnson still has a role with Arizona Cardinals

For the first time in weeks Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson was not on the injury report

He didn’t look great on the field last Sunday in Tampa, but Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson should still have a role with the team.  His time as number one back has likely expired.

With the emergence of Chase Edmonds and Kenyan Drake, Johnson has fallen behind those two in terms of excitement and production. Drake remains the number one for now with Edmonds hurting.

Edmonds was on the injury report again on Wednesday as did not practice.  Although Johnson was benched on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and rightfully so, it was likely only for the rest of that game after his fumble.

His fumble on Sunday was the first for the Cardinals as a team all of 2019.  Johnson does seem a step slower.  Some suggested he didn’t care to perform well because he got paid.

That isn’t true.  Is he the same player he was 3 years ago when he was an MVP candidate?  No.  After he started 2017 with a season-ending wrist injury and then in a stagnant offense in 2018, many thought he would be back to his old self this season.

That has not panned out.  However, he got hurt again and this time many believe he won’t be coming back from it.  He probably won’t to the point of being the number one back.

However he is still a dual threat.  He can catch the ball but the Cardinals will not convert him to a full time receiver.  They tried that experiment once.

He is under contract for 2020 and unless they trade him, look for more Johnson next year as long as he stays healthy.  That, of course, is a big if right now.

Know this though, he cares.  He’s never publicly complained about his role, although he did hold out of mini camp in 2018.  We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.