The Los Angeles Rams reunited with an old friend late in the offseason by signing safety John Johnson to a one-year deal, but in the first half of the season, the reunion wasn't as fruitful as fans may have hoped.
Johnson, who spent the first four years of his career in L.A. before joining the Cleveland Browns for the past two, spent the first eight games as almost entirely a special teams player, recording just nine snaps on defense. He saw slightly more playing time against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 5, but still had just 16 defensive snaps.
That all changed in Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks. Johnson recorded 46 defensive snaps (71 percent), more than he had the entire season beforehand, and had easily his best game of the year with three tackles and a pass breakup. The Rams' trust in Johnson was rewarded, as they earned a hard-fought 17-16 victory over their rival thanks to an excellent defensive performance.
After the game, Rams coach Sean McVay revealed how Johnson earned his larger role back after so long.
“I think John had earned the right to be able to get on the grass," McVay told reporters Monday. "He had done a good job. He’s a guy that we had a lot of confidence in. I think there was a timetable that it took, maybe a little bit longer, to get himself back into the shape or feeling good, and some of the different things that are in alignment with the JJ that we know.”
With Johnson's snaps rising, someone else's inevitably had to fall. In this case, that someone else was safety Russ Yeast, who had been a regular on the back end this entire season but played just 14 defensive snaps (22 percent) on Sunday. Even with Yeast's snap count down, McVay praised both players for their contributions in the win.
"I thought he [Johnson] did a really good job yesterday and then I thought Russ capitalized on the snaps that he did play and some crucial known passing situations for us,” McVay said.
Even if it took a while to get there, Johnson resembling the player he was during his previous stint in L.A. is great news for the Rams defense.
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