Jeron Johnson finally cracks the starting lineup.

[tribeofjudah]

I hope he Balls Out .......now is the time!!!

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By Mike Jones November 21 at 10:33 AM
FOXBOROUGH, MA - NOVEMBER, 8

From about the second week of training camp to the first week of the regular season, nothing went as planned for Jeron Johnson.

Johnson signed with the Washington Redskins in free agency with expectations that he would become a starter after four seasons as a backup and special teams contributor in Seattle.

Johnson and holdover Duke Ihenacho had alternated at strong safety all offseason, but Johnson strained his hamstring early in training camp, missed significant practice time, and never made his way back up the depth chart.

When Ihenacho fractured his wrist in the season opener, coaches turned the job over to Trenton Robinson. For the next six weeks, Johnson — an undrafted player out of Boise State — remained a backup, unsure why his coaches had soured on him.

“I was never informed anything,” Johnson said. “When Duke went down, they threw [Robinson] in and I just tried to make as many plays on special teams.”

During that frustrating time, Johnson said he “had to remain humble and remain patient and wait on my opportunity.”

But even though his coaches seemed to lack confidence in him, he said he never stopped believing in himself.

“If you don’t believe in yourself, then no one will. I never lost faith since I got here,” Johnson said. “Regardless of what was said, I never lost faith in me. I’ve been an underdog my entire career and my entire life, really. Came out of high school with only one scholarship offer. I embrace the role. You just have to take advantage of every opportunity.”

The opportunity finally came in Week 9, when with the run defense struggling, coaches sent Johnson into the game midway through their 27-10 loss to New England. Johnson recorded five solo tackles and an assist. The performance earned him the starting nod against New Orleans the following week. This week against Charlotte, Johnson will make his second consecutive start.

“J.J. has done good,” coach Jay Gruden said on Friday. “You know, [Robinson] really had a strong training camp and won the job. He was impressive, not to take anything away from what J.J. did, it’s just we had to pick one and we picked Trenton to start out the season. J.J. is a very smart player, very good tackler and he’s ready. … He’s a good, solid football player — got him from Seattle, obviously — and knows the game and studies the game and he’ll be a help for us.”


Despite starting last week, Johnson split snaps with DeAngelo Hall, who has begun transitioning from cornerback to safety. Johnson played on run downs, Hall on passing downs.

However, now that he’s in the starting lineup, Johnson’s next goal is to establish himself and continue to develop while proving to coaches that he can serve as a complete player.

“I feel like I can only go up from here with the reps and opportunities,” he said. “I just want to go up from here. I don’t want to be anything other than myself. Just want to continue to grow as a teammate and as an individual.”


Mike Jones covers the Washington Redskins for The Washington Post. When not writing about a Redskins development of some kind – which is rare – he can be found screaming and cheering at one of his kids’ softball, baseball, soccer or basketball games.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Hope he continues to improve. Safety was DEFINITELY an area of weakness this Sunday tho... He can easily entrench himself into the hearts of Skins fans by balling hard these next few games vs divisional rivals