Johnson's Return to Tar Heels Practice is Triumphant By Itself

Johnson was injured in the third quarter in the season opener. When he went down, Johnson knew virtually immediately that there was something significantly wrong. He was forced to stay behind in Minnesota for emergency surgery and continued medical treatment.

“There was a point in time where I thought I was going to lose my leg,” Johnson said, the emotion evident in his voice. “And God blessed to be able to continue to play football. Man, what an honor it is just to be back playing. All the coaches believed in me, and I kind of believed in myself, and the Lord put me in this position to glorify Him through what I’m doing. Man, what a journey it’s been.”

Johnson and University of South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez are the top contenders to be the starter when UNC opens the Belichick era against TCU on Sept. 1. Neither Johnson nor Lopez participated in team drills during the spring. Johnson did not take part in spring practice due to the injury. Lopez did not participate because he was still at South Alabama. True freshman quarterback Bryce Baker did participate in spring practice and handled a majority of the repetitions.

“One of the key questions we have to answer,” Belichick said of picking a starting quarterback.

Johnson is the son of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Brad Johnson. He was so badly injured he could not dress himself and needed help doing the most simple tasks we take for granted.

“He’s made a tremendous amount of progress throughout the process, but really it’s that last, call it 20 percent, between not being able to play and really being ready to play right at the start of training camp, which is where he is now,” Belichick said. 

“He didn’t take any meaningful snaps in the spring. He worked out on his own. He threw some routes, but he wasn’t involved in the team drills. It’s a big jump for him in terms of what he’s able to do, although I think the progression is very gradual. It’s one percent of the time, it’s one percent of the time, but at some point you just cross that threshold, and so he’ll be ready to participate out there with all the other players.”