Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson has been an occasional participant in practice in recent weeks as the team tries to manage his knee injury well enough to keep him on the field every Sunday.
That’s usually meant working a day or two and resting his knee the rest of the time, something that the team has kept up this week despite having limited time to prepare for Thursday’s game against the Packers. Johnson didn’t practice on Tuesday, the only day of real practice for the Lions this week, but said after the session that he doesn’t expect to be hampered by the short turnaround this week.
“Nah, I’ll be all right,” Johnson said, via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. “I’ll be all right.”
Johnson has 66 catches for 1,198 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, which would qualify for anyone’s definition of all right. The numbers look even better when you realize Johnson has only played 10 games this year, missing the first matchup with the Packers because of his knee. The Lions lost that day thanks in large part to an ineffective offense, which explains why the Lions are so diligent about keeping him on the field.