Rams John Johnson sets high expectations for revamped secondary...

Rams’ John Johnson sets high expectations for revamped secondary

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John Johnson has been through two significant surgeries in the past year. One was the operation to repair his right shoulder after a season-ending injury in October. The other, more extensive, was a transplant of the rest of his team’s starting secondary.

When the Rams’ strong safety takes the SoFi Stadium field Sept. 13 against the Dallas Cowboys for his first game in 11 months, he’ll be playing with an entirely different set of fellow defensive backs.

Second-year free safety Taylor Rapp replaces the retired Eric Weddle after filling in for Johnson last season. Cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Troy Hill go into their first full Rams season after replacing the traded Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib last fall. It remains to be seen who takes over at slot corner from Nickell Robey-Coleman, whose option was declined.

They’ll all be playing in a new defensive system under the Rams’ rookie defensive coordinator, Brandon Staley.

In a video chat with reporters Thursday, Johnson sounded as confident as ever in the Rams’ defense, which also is replacing most of its experienced linebackers.

“Coach Staley came from Denver, came from Chicago,” said Johnson, referring to Staley’s stints as outside linebackers coach for top-10 defenses with the Broncos (2019) and Bears (2017-18). “I think we have better guys on defense than he had in both of those places. So just picture what they were doing, with better guys.”

At age 24 and entering his fourth year out of Boston College, Johnson already finds himself the dean of the Rams secondary, keeping a relatively experienced eye on how the group works together in training camp.

“We’ve got some talent on the back end. We’re great players. We all listen. We’re all low-maintenance – except for maybe a few,” Johnson joked. “We’re going to stick together and get this thing done.”

Rapp and Hill will begin a season as NFL starters for the first time, and Johnson and Rapp form a new safety combination.

“Taylor had a great rookie year, I mean better than I had in my rookie year, so he’s got a lot more ground to stand on,” Johnson said. “I can see us being the best safety tandem in the league, and anything short of that is a disappointment.”

Johnson said he didn’t know much about rookie safeties Terrell Burgess, a third-round draft pick from Utah, or Jordan Fuller, a sixth-rounder from Ohio State, before watching them on the practice field.

“Great athletes. You can move ’em around (the secondary), so I’m excited for their future,” Johnson said. “Both of them are very impressive.”

He described Staley’s approach as “aggressive.” The Rams’ defense ranked ninth in the NFL in takeaways as the team went 9-7 and missed the playoffs last season, down from third in the league in the Super Bowl year. It’s probably one reason defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was let go.

It didn’t help that Johnson got hurt late in the Rams’ Oct. 13 loss to the 49ers at the Coliseum. His season was off to a strong start. The highlight was the Rams’ Week 3 victory over the Browns in Cleveland, where he led the team in tackles and had the game-saving interception of a Baker Mayfield pass in the end zone.

The new season, he said, is “just an opportunity to build upon what I started last year.”

Training camp, which opened Aug. 3 in Thousand Oaks, reached a milestone Thursday, one month before the season-opening game. It was the first day day of the “ramp up” phase of camp, the first time players could practice in helmets.

Johnson said he probably won’t wear the face shield that players can attach to their helmets to try to block virus transmission.

“If it was close to 100% in protecting me, maybe I would wear it. But I don’t see how that’s going to help anything,” he said.

Contact drills begin next Tuesday, delayed by coronavirus precautions negotiated by the NFL and NFL Players Association.

Johnson has negotiations of his own to think about, looking for a contract extension before the third-round draft pick’s four-year, $3,258,752 rookie deal expires after the 2020 season.

“I’ve just got to put some good tape out there,” Johnson said. “The rest will take care of itself.”