Duke Johnson – December 15, 2021
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Wednesday, December 15, 2021
RB Duke Johnson
(How excited are you about this opportunity to potentially carry a heavy workload on Sunday?) – “I’m excited just to be back out there. Last time I played was against the Jets so for me, I’m just excited to be out there, period, after not playing for most of the season. Just happy to be back.”
(Has this been a tough adjustment for you for somebody who’s been in the league for a while, with what’s gone on this year?) – “As far as me not playing?”
(Practice squad and not playing?) – “No. I’ve kind of always been a team guy and for me it’s whatever it takes to win. No matter whether it was high school, college. No matter what kind of sport it was, I do my job and that’s all I can do. Control what I can control.”
(Were you worried this week seeing three running backs land on the COVID list? You’ve made it through but were you worried going through tests? “Could I have been…?”) – “No because if I was positive, there’s nothing I can do either way, so I don’t really worry myself about something I really can’t control. I live by that. So whether I had it or not, there was nothing I can do at that point but stay home and get healthy.”
(I know you’re not living in a glass container. But are you being extra cautious this week knowing you’re almost all the Dolphins have at running back if those three guys aren’t active Sunday?) – “No, I think I’m doing what I’d typically do. Live my day-to-day doing as much as I can to stay clean and stay healthy.”
(So the Jets game was up there. So this would be your first time putting on the Dolphins uniform at Hard Rock Stadium. What do you think it’ll be like?) – “No idea. (laughter) No idea. I think it really won’t hit me until the game. Right now I’m just taking it all in and just enjoying the moment, but I really won’t know until the game so you’ll have to ask me after the game.”
(Have you had – it’s cliché but I am interested – have you had a lot of friends and family hit you up for tickets?) – “No, because the last couple of weeks I wasn’t active, so I really wasn’t playing. As of now, no, not yet. It’s possible. It’s possible, but not at this moment.”
(So how often when you were in high school or at The U did you dream about that moment that maybe like wearing a Dolphins jersey at Hard Rock Stadium?) – “I would say middle school. Middle school was probably the last time I thought about that. I was a big Dolphins fan growing up, but as a kid you always want to play home, stay home. I was fortunate to go to Miami and stay home for my college career so now I’m back.”
(I would imagine the answer is yes to this, but if you have to carry a 20-25 carry workload Sunday, you’re healthy and able to do it I’m sure, right?) – “For me, it’s whatever the team needs. Literally. Running, catching, blocking, special teams. For me, the goal is always to help my win in any capacity.”
(Your position is one in the league where a lot of talented guys – you, Todd Gurley, Lamar Miller – it’s a very, very long list of guys who are highly productive early to mid-20s and then teams look for younger guys and it’s harder to sustain being in the league. Is that difficult to deal with? Is it just something about running back which you think that might happen more than other positions?) – “For me, I really have no idea. For me, I don’t – again – I can’t control anything. I can only put my best foot forward when I’m with the team and do what I can to help the team win and produce and do my job. But as far as why the drop-off or why the dip, I can’t really answer that. I can just only tell you that I’m going to do my job until I can’t.”
(A lot of wear and tear I guess at the position…) – “That’s football. I think that’s football, period. No matter what position you play, there’s wear and tear. It’s a part of the game.”
(What has QB Tua Tagovailoa been like to work with… [inaudible]?) – “He’s been the same guy since I got here from practice squad, active (roster). He’s been the same guy treating me with the utmost respect, helping me get acclimated to the playbook and just being who he is. I think that’s one of the best things I can say, is he was him regardless of whether I was helping him or not.”
(Going back to your playing days in either high school or college, what stands out as far as if I were to ask you about it a day when you really had to carry a workload and maybe were just worn out by the end of the day? Anything like that stand out?) – “Worn out? Probably in high school.”
(How many carries are we talking?) – “Definitely can’t remember the exact carries, but it was probably my last high school game – state game – was probably one of the ones that I was just worn out, exhausted.”
(That’s a good time to get worn out.) – “Yeah, great time. (laughter)”
(How has RB Malcolm Brown looked today I guess? How did Malcolm Brown look?) – “How did he look? Not sure – like I wasn’t here before so it’s hard for me to tell what he looked like. I really can’t compare because I wasn’t here before, but I came out with Malcolm. I know Malcolm. I know him as a person. I really can’t tell you how he looked before injury compared to post-injury.”
(So when you know there’s a chance, like an increased chance that you could end up getting 10, 15 or more carries – I looked it up, last year there were games in November where you had like 14, 16 in back-to-back games. So if that is the case clearly this week, is there anything at all that you’ll do differently relative to film study, massage, acupuncture, rest, anything at all you’ll do different?) – “No, sir. I kind of go by my day-to-day like I’m playing every week so it’s a routine that I have whether I’m on practice squad or not. Just kind of the same routine so when you do get called up, you don’t change nothing. You don’t try anything different that would throw you off so you do everything the same.”
(The practice squad list is so long. It never used to be like this and there’s guys on here who have had success in the league. The practice squad has changed. Have you and any of these other guys on the list ever talked about like, “Hey man, this isn’t like regular practice squad in this COVID era?” You know what I’m saying? What are your thoughts on how the practice squad is different with the COVID era and the way they change the rules up with some veterans and things like that?) – “I think the biggest thing is the veterans. Coming in, showing, giving looks and kind of mentoring in a way and just talking to the guys and helping them see what we see or what we’ve seen throughout the years and just do whatever we can to help them get as prepared as they can be for the game.”
