Titans RB Chris Johnson has spent the past few offseasons working out with his own personal trainer in Florida.  But after an ugly 2011 season, Johnson has decided to participate in the team's offseason program this spring.  “C.J. has worked very hard," OC Chris Palmer said. “He is here, running hard and working hard. I’m very optimistic about how he’s going to perform this (fall).”  Besides potentially being in better shape, Johnson's chemistry with his linemen should also improve with more time at the team facility.  Still only 26 years old, CJ is plenty capable of a bounce-back in 2012.

Titans HC Mike Munchak expects to see a big improvement from RB Chris Johnson and the rest of the ground game in 2012.  “I think he's excited to get last year behind him as we all are as far as the running game goes,” Munchak said. “We know it's not going to be worse, believe me. We feel like we're going to be able to make a drastic improvement from where we ended up."  Tennessee finished 31st in rushing last year.  Munchak cited a normal offseason for Johnson and another year in OC Chris Palmer's offense as reasons to expect an uptick in production.

Titans HC Mike Munchak admits that RB Chris Johnson doesn't possess the same speed he did early in his career.  “Is he a step slower? Yeah, I’m sure he is,” Munchak said. “I don’t know how you would measure that exactly, but I’m sure he has [lost a step]."  It's rare that a coach points out a player's physical decline, so this is telling.  Johnson has touched the ball a whopping 1,381 times over 4 NFL seasons.  After averaging 5.3 yards per carry in his first 2 years, that number has plummeted to 4.2 over the last 2.  We'd bet on a minor bounce-back in 2012, but don't expect a return to 2,000-yard form.

Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) is active for today's game against the Texans.  His ankle is supposedly in better shape this week than it was last, and CJ is getting a Houston team that will be resting starters.  Still, he's struggled lately and is just a RB2 today.

Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) returned to a full practice on Friday.  He's listed as questionable, but HC Mike Munchak confirmed that CJ is "good to go" for this weekend's game against the Texans.  Johnson says his ankle is in better shape this week than last, plus he's getting a Houston team that could be resting key defensive starts.  Averaging just 3.3 yards per carry over the past 3 weeks, though, it's tough to get excited about Johnson as anything more than a RB2.

Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) was held out of practice for the 2nd-straight day on Thursday.  HC Mike Munchak said afterwards that CJ is expected to get back on the field on Friday and then play against the Texans this weekend.  It's tough to believe he'll be close to 100% though.

Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) did not practice on Wednesday.  He did say that his ankle is "feeling much better" though.  Johnson is fully expected to play against the Texans on Sunday, but he'll be tough to trust as anything more than a RB2.   He's gone cold again, managing just 134 yards on 41 carries over the past 3 weeks.

Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) is officially active for today's game against the Jaguars.  At less than 100%, he's a risky RB2 option.

Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) is officially listed as questionable for Saturday's game against the Jaguars.  But he put in limited practices on Thursday and Friday and is fully expected to play.  How effective CJ will be is a legit question though.  He admitted to having trouble cutting on the ankle earlier this week, which is a problem for a back who relies on quickness and change-of-direction.  Consider him a risky RB2 option for Week 16.

Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) returned to a limited practice on Thursday.  While he didn't do much cutting, HC Mike Munchak did say that CJ "looked good" running.  He remains on track to start Saturday's game against Jacksonville, but it's unclear how effective he'll be or what kind of workload he'll receive.  The question marks make Johnson a risky RB2 option.

While Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) is fully expected to play against the Jaguars on Saturday, he won't be at 100%.  "We’re assuming C.J. will be somewhat not himself,” HC Mike Munchak said, adding that RB Jamie Harper will play a bigger role.  Johnson has a nice matchup against a banged-up Jaguars defense, but he'll be a risky RB2 option this weekend.

Titans RB Chris Johnson (ankle) did not participate in practice Tuesday.  While he admits that the ankle is still sore -- and that cutting could be a problem -- he's not concerned about his availability for Week 16.  “I think I should be good enough to go,” Johnson said. “It’s pretty sore – I haven’t ran on it and… yesterday I was limping pretty bad. But I am doing much better.”  We'll see how much practice CJ's able to get in this week.  For now, he looks like a risk/reward RB2 against the Jaguars this Saturday.

Titans HC Mike Munchak revealed that RB Chris Johnson's ankle was sore after Sunday's loss to the Colts.  We'll track his practice participation throughout the week, but it doesn't sound like CJ is in danger of missing Week 16's game against the Jaguars.

Just when it looked like Titans RB Chris Johnson was rounding into form for a big finish, he's gone out and posted 2-straight duds.  After crushing owners with a 66-total-yard performance in Week 15, CJ was only a bit better against the Colts on Sunday.  He cobbled together just 55 yards on 15 carries, and that included a 35-yard scamper.  The same problems continue to haunt this running game.  Johnson is hit behind the line of scrimmage far too often.  And when he does get into space, he's not making people miss.  Luckily, Johnson got involved in the passing game Sunday, hauling in a season-high 8 balls for 54 yards.  He had what appeared to be a 49-yard receiving score in the 4th quarter, but replay review showed that he was down by contact after just a 5-yard gain.  While it's tough to complain about a 109-total-yard day, owners were surely looking for more in a plus matchup against the Colts.  The sledding shouldn't be much tougher against the Jaguars in Week 16 though.

Titans RB Chris Johnson revealed after Sunday's win over the Bills that he played through the flu.  He'd supposedly been dealing with it all week, not eating a full meal since last Sunday and dropping 10 pounds.  “I can’t lie, I felt weak out there,” Johnson admitted after the game.  “It was pretty hard to practice all week. It was the flu or something, I don’t know, but it was bad. I just had to push through it because we have to continue to win if we want to make the playoffs.”  Guys play through sickness all the time, so we'll stop short of calling Johnson's performance heroic.  But it does make the 23-carry, 153-yard effort all the more impressive.  He's hit his stride the past month, topping 130 yards in 3 of his past 4 games, while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.  Look for CJ to stay hot down the stretch with games against the Saints (24th against RBs), Colts (30th), and Jaguars (12th).

In his Monday press conference, Titans HC Mike Munchak said that RB Chris Johnson “is our starter and nothing has changed.” Munchak added, “we still believe in him.” As we suspected, Johnson will open this coming Sunday’s game against the Bengals as Tennessee’s lead back. But the coaching staff has proven that they’re not afraid to go with the hot hand if that happens to be RB Javon Ringer. CJ?K will be a risky fantasy option moving forward.

The Titans deployed a RB-by-committee against the Colts on Sunday.  Both Chris Johnson and Javon Ringer saw 14 carries.  Ringer was more productive, out-gaining Johnson 60 yards to 34.  HC Mike Munchak seemed to suggest after the game that they'll continue to rotate the 2 backs going forward.  “I think every game will be different,” Munchak said. “I just think it depends on the flow of the game, how it’s going. I don’t think we’re consciously trying to decide by series who’s playing."  For now, we'd still bet on Johnson leading this backfield in touches. Tennessee has 55 million reasons to give him the ball.  But Ringer has certainly earned a bigger role -- maybe 10-15 touches per game.  We'll continue to monitor the situation.

It's been a disappointing season for Titans RB Chris Johnson, but he hit rock bottom against the Texans on Sunday.  CJ took his 10 carries for just 18 yards, pushing his yards-per-carry average to an anemic 2.9.  Aftewards, Johnson made it clear that he's not the problem.  "Basically, if you are watching the game and you really can’t tell what is going on with the run game then I would say you really don’t know football," Johnson said. “I wouldn’t say I am the issue.”  It's obviously a jab at the offensive line, and it certainly won't help the situation.  Tennessee failed to fix its running game issues over the bye, and there's no sign of a breakthrough any time soon.

Titans HC Mike Munchak confirmed that the "hamstring tightness" that kept RB Chris Johnson out for most of the 4th quarter yesterday shouldn't be a concern moving forward.  Helping CJ2K's cause is Tennessee's Week 6 bye.  He's fully expected to be ready for the team's game against the Texans the following Sunday.

Titans RB Chris Johnson missed the majority of the 4th quarter with what the team is calling "hamstring tightness."  CJ2K says that the coaching staff was just being cautious in a game that was already settled. "I was set to go back in," he said, "but they didn’t want to injure it more knowing that the game was pretty much out of hand."  The Titans have a Week 6 bye, and Johnson should be fine for the following Sunday.  It's a situation worth monitoring though.