D’Ernest Johnson laments lack of ‘opportunities’ as free agency awaits

On Jan 13, 2023

Cleveland Browns running back D'Ernest Johnson (30) tries to evade Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Tarron Jackson (75) during the first half of an NFL preseason football game in Cleveland, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

BEREA — It wasn’t the season the Browns, as a team, expected. It certainly wasn’t the season D’Ernest Johnson expected.

The running back re-signed with the Browns as a restricted free agent in June to a one-year contract. The 26-year-old knew that Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were ahead of him, but he also knew what he had shown in his limited opportunities to be the primary ballcarrier.

So Johnson was betting on himself to, if nothing else, shine when the opportunities were there. The problem for him was that those opportunities so rarely presented themselves, with both Chubb and Hunt, for the most part, staying healthy throughout the Browns’ 7-10 season.

“It was a learning experience, I guess,” Johnson told the Beacon Journal as he cleaned out his locker on Monday. “Definitely not the year I wanted to have, but I made the most out of it. I stayed positive with everything. I just wish I was able to have more opportunities. But you’ve got two big guys in front of you, Nick and Kareem, and whenever you get those opportunities, you just have to make the most of them. I just didn’t have the opportunities that I had last year.”

The question, though, is with whom Johnson’s next opportunities will come. He’s one of several free agents the Browns have on their roster, a number that also includes Hunt.

Cleveland Browns running back D'Ernest Johnson (30) rushes for a first down during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Chubb, who ran for 1,525 yards this season, is one of the best running backs in the league. The Browns drafted Jerome Ford in the fifth round of last April’s draft, and began the process late in the season of getting him prepared to potentially become the No. 2 option behind Chubb next season.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a path back to the Browns for Johnson next season. It’s just that, as an unrestricted free agent, he’s going to have options that likely go beyond a return to Cleveland.

“There haven’t been no initiation of me coming back,” Johnson said. “I haven’t heard anything yet about it. We know it’s going to be a long process. Just talking to my agents and see what’s next.”

The selling point Johnson and his representation will make to whomever comes calling is the same one that led the Browns to make sure they brought him back after last season. When he’s been called upon to pick up the slack, he’s done so at a high level.

After Chubb went down with a knee injury against the Dallas Cowboys during the 2020 season, Johnson came on to rush for 95 yards on 13 carries. It was a precursor to a breakout season in 2021 in which, with Hunt battling season-long injury issues, Johnson proved his worth.

Johnson ran for 534 yards and three touchdowns on 100 carries that season, including two big performances when given the chance to start. Against Denver on Thursday Night Football in Week 7, he ran for a career-best 146 yards and a score on 22 carries, then posted a 123-yard, one-score performance in the season finale against Cincinnati.

“If it’s somewhere else, I know that, whenever I do get those opportunities, that I’m going to make the most of each and every one of them,” Johnson said. “This offseason, put in a lot of work and just be prepared to come in and, wherever I go, just compete for the No. 1 spot. That’s the main thing.”

The problem for Johnson this season was the lack of opportunities. He finished the season with just four carries for 17 yards, and another three receptions for seven yards.

Johnson only had 31 snaps all season in the backfield, and most of those came late in lopsided games, such as the nine snaps each he had in losses to New England (Week 6) and Miami (Week 10). He also had seven snaps at running back in the Browns’ Week 8 win over Cincinnati.

Instead, most of Johnson’s snaps — 200, to be exact — came on special teams, where he recorded five tackles and two assisted stops. He played on kickoff return, as well as both kickoff and punt coverage.

All the while, Johnson found himself having to learn as much about himself as he did anything else. Specifically, about how to deal with a situation that wasn’t what he envisioned at all.

“Just keep a positive mindset,” Johnson said. “That main thing is just to keep a positive mindset, because, coming off a big year last year and just coming into this year, having high expectations of myself and not being able to reach those, I think I learned how to be more professional and just keeping the right attitude and the right mindset.”