Ty Johnson's 2021 goals: Make the team, then win as a team

Jul. 25—Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series from a Times-News interview with Ty Johnson. Part two will be published in Monday's edition of the Times-News.

CUMBERLAND — As great as a 1,000-yard season sounds, or even a Player of the Week award, New York Jets running back Ty Johnson has his mind set on two things as he enters his third season as a professional: making the team, and winning as a team.

After spending much of last season with the Jets after being claimed on waivers by the East Rutherford, New Jersey, club, Johnson has been hard at work ahead of Jets training camp that opens on Tuesday.

"I'm always practicing like I've got to make the team," Johnson said on Thursday. "Danny Amendola said that once."

Johnson and Amendola were teammates in Detroit during the entirety of Johnson's tenure in Michigan.

"He's been in the league forever," Johnson said. "Last training camp, he dropped a ball and he told the coach he needed another rep. It was during offensive walkthrough. Coach was like, 'Nah, Danny, you're good,' and he was like, 'Nah, screw that. I'm trying to make this team still.' That's the mentality. Like, nothing's really given.

"At the end of the day, I don't care what articles come out, I don't care what articles say I'm gonna start, I don't care about articles saying I'm going to get cut. My whole mentality is like, 'I'm trying to make the team. I'm trying to put food on my plate, trying to put food on my family's plate.' And that's just the mentality. So yeah, just making that team and securing my spot is definitely the goal, of course. ... The goal is just to win. If I can contribute in any way, if that means me blocking on third down, if it means me, you know, cutting the leg on a D-end or something like that, or take on a three tech because the guard has to go down and block with the nose, then, by all means, that's what I'm gonna do. The main goal overall is just to win as a team, really."

Johnson noted that he doesn't like talking about yardage as it pertains to goals because of how difficult it is to get yards in the NFL.

"I don't really like talking about yards and stuff like that because it's just hard to get yards in the league, man. I'd love to have a 1,000-yard season, but you need carries for that and you need opportunities."

Johnson returns to East Rutherford as the leading returning rusher from last year's team following the retirement of Frank Gore, who had 653 yards and a pair of scores on 187 attempts. Johnson was second in yards with 254 on 54 carries while hauling in 16 of 20 targets for 99 yards — he had a rushing touchdown against Oakland and a receiving score in the first quarter in the Jets' first win of the season in Los Angeles against the Rams. Johnson also returned five kickoffs for 94 yards.

It's been a hectic two years for Johnson, who went from playing in front of packed stadiums for the red and white of Fort Hill to playing in nearly empty stadiums last year during the pandemic.

During Johnson's short time in the league thus far, he's already worked with two running backs who may be destined for the Hall of Fame in Gore and Adrian Peterson. Peterson was picked up by the Lions a week before the 2020 season began.

"It was great," Johnson said of learning under Peterson and, especially, Gore. "Frank's been playing ever since I was 5 years old. Adrian Peterson, he's been playing a very, very long time, too. And they're just a different breed. If you think about generational football, older generations (is more) smashmouth football, and now you got more of the league where it's definitely (more) finesse. You know, you're always saucing someone up, but it's definitely different to seeing them with that smashmouth mentality.

"Like, I'm just running through walls every time no matter what, and if you want to be that wall for me, then great. But they're running through people, they're lowering their shoulders. ... Obviously from when they came in, and how I came in, times have changed of course, but it's still relevant when you see those guys playing. Like you can only say 'Damn, like, this guy, no wonder he's been playing for so long ... no wonder he's racked up this many yards, he's just going crazy on people.' So it's been a great experience. And also being able to pick their minds about the game and how they see things. Man, it's been great, really."

Anytime an NFL franchise hires a new head coach or spends a first-round pick on a quarterback, there's a certain buzz around the franchise. This offseason, the Jets did both. Before selecting BYU quarterback Zach Wilson with the second overall pick in the NFL draft, the Jets appointed former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as head coach to replace Adam Gase.

Since making back-to-back AFC title game appearances in 2009 and 2010, the Jets haven't been back to the playoffs and haven't finished higher than second in the AFC East since Todd Bowles' first season in 2015.

"It's been great," Johnson said. "I mean, I feel like you kind of just know when you feel it, you know, like you can't explain it. You just know. I said this to another guy I had an interview with ... I said to him it's like when you got married ... you just know it's something right, it's something good. When you see a new house, you walk into the house you're like, 'This is the one.' And same thing goes with Coach Saleh. With him coming in this offseason it's been like ... his energy, the vibe, everything, it just feels right.

"Like it feels like something's going to happen, something big is going to happen. And you know, at the end of the day, maybe nothing does. But you know, who am I to say what's gonna happen? All I can control is what I can do and how I can contribute. But at the end of the day, you know, it just feels right. You feel a sense of a winning attitude, and that's what it's been all offseason. Guys have been training hard, they've been working. I was with Frank this (Gore) offseason, I was with a few other guys. It's all been really good, honestly, this whole offseason."

Kyle Bennett is a sports reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @KyleBennettCTN.