Messages
5,432
Reaction score
0
Andre Johnson Says He Will Play Against Dallas on Sunday9/23/2010 9:32 AM ET By John Oehser


John Oehser
NFL Writer
Andre Johnson said he's playing Sunday.

Johnson, the Houston Texans' wide receiver and the NFL's leader in receiving yards the last two seasons, said Wednesday he expects to play against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday.

He sustained an ankle injury this past Sunday and Texans' Head Coach Gary Kubiak called his status "day-to-day."

"I'll be out on the field on Sunday," Johnson said. "The only way I wouldn't play would be if I felt like I wouldn't be able to play and I would hurt the team. If I felt that way, I wouldn't play, but the way I feel right now, I'll be out there on Sunday."

Johnson played through the injury this past Sunday, and not only had 12 receptions for 158 yards, he also had a remarkable catch over a defender for a 34-yard game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The Texans rallied from a 27-20 deficit to beat Washington, 30-27, in overtime. The victory moved the Texans to 2-0 for the first time since 2007, when the team lost four of its next five games. Johnson, in his eighth season, said he knows from experience that while a 2-0 start is nice, it's only a start.

"The attitude around here is totally different," Johnson said of an organization that never has made the postseason and never had a winning season until finishing 9-7 last season. "I mean, the atmosphere around the stadium, just in the building is totally different. It's something that not just me, the organization has been waiting for."

"But at the same time, we were in this position before. We were 2-0 and ended up losing five games in a row, so us being 2-0 really doesn't matter. Of course we want to be undefeated, but at the same time, we have to go out and try to win this game Sunday," added Johnson. "We'll just focus on this job that we have to get done on Sunday."

Considering Johnson's importance to the offense, there seems a higher possibility the Texans will do that if Johnson plays.

And while there was a bit of early concern about that early in the week, he said on Wednesday, "I'm doing fine."

"I'm doing better than I thought I would be, so that's a good thing," he said. "It feels pretty good. I jogged around earlier today. It feels better than I thought it would be feeling, so I'll probably go out and run again tomorrow and see how it feels, but it's been getting better day-by-day."
 
Top Bottom