Detroit Lions 'fearless' RBs going to play 'like our hair’s on fire'

Last year, Detroit Lions running back Kerryon Johnson missed six games of his rookie season with a left knee injury.

This year, he will miss at least eight games with a right knee injury.

It might be too much for some young players to bare. But fellow running back J.D. McKissic said he wasn’t worried about Johnson’s spirits.

“No, sir,” McKissic said Wednesday, a day after the Lions placed Johnson on injured reserve following surgery. “Kerryon’s an old soul. It’s like he’s already been in the league already. He’ll have no problem getting over whatever he has going on. I’m sure he’ll come back even better.”

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In the meantime, McKissic said he and the rest of the Lions’ running backs assured Johnson they’re going to take care of business.

“First things first, I had to reach out to Kerryon and let him know that we’ve got his back,” McKissic said. “We’re going to go out and play like our hair’s on fire and try to make plays for him because I’ve been in that situation before.

“His injury is not that serious. I mean, he’s going to have to take his time, he’s going to have to get back healthy and can’t wait to get him back.”

Rookie Ty Johnson, who got the bulk of the carries when Kerryon Johnson left Sunday’s 42-30 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the first quarter, said he feels better acclimated to the NFL nearly halfway through the season.

“Pretty comfortable,” he said. “It’s just that the game’s starting to slow down a little bit. Because being a rookie it’s all fast when you first get in and being able to slow things down mentally, what the defenses,  are doing and having coaches and guys like Kerryon and J.D. in my ear talking about certain fronts or certain pressures or whatever block schemes we have for the run game. Just having those guys in my ear at all times has been a big help.”

The Vikings limited Ty Johnson to 29 yards on 10 carries. Having a whole week to prepare for the visiting New York Giants on Sunday could help Johnson, McKissic and the Lions’ other running backs who have a dauntless attitude.

“I’ll say it’s just all about being fearless,” McKissic said. “Being fearless and having fun, not overthinking anything. Right now, we play Sunday so we’ve got plenty of time to prepare. Preparation I think is one of the most important things for us all right now to get in and get the reps and go through with the gameplan and just dial it all up.”

As for Kerryon Johnson’s path moving forward, teammates said they would continue to offer him as much support as possible. McKissic missed the Seattle Seahawks’ first 11 games last season with a broken foot and found out how isolating the recovery process can be.

“When I broke my foot in Seattle it just — you’re going to be alone for a while,” he said. “I think it’s very important that your teammates reach out to you and make sure you’re doing fine and let them know that and let them know that they haven’t forgot about you and can’t wait for you to return.”

Quarterback Matthew Stafford also pledged his support to Johnson. In his first two seasons, Stafford played only 13 games because of knee and shoulder injuries.

“The thing for me was it’s not like the injuries stopped,” he said. “It’s just — I kind of either, No. 1, got lucky and could play through most of the other ones and kind of learned how to manage my body throughout the week. That’s a different process for everybody and really every different position.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to play running back in this league and feel the way he feels on a Monday. I know he will work as hard as he possibly can to be back when he’s ready and feeling right. It’s tough. I think the biggest thing is you just have to stay positive and know you’ve played this game for a long time and understand that you can get it done, you just got a little bit unlucky.”

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Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.