Arians says Chris Johnson takes physical, David Johnson returns to practice

While Andre Ellington will certainly be the featured back, Arizona was without anybody who could share the load or spell Ellington if he gets hurt again.

Chris Johnson’s days of unemployment could be numbered. It’s a one-year deal worth up to $2 million, according to multiple reports including ESPN.

“Chris is one of those guys, every time he touches [it] you hold your breath”, Arians told Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. He gained 2,006 yards in 2009 playing for Tennessee and never had less than 1,000 yards for the Titans in his six seasons there.

Caption: Me getting shot made me think different. Keim has had some success with these “prove it” “one and done” contracts, with the only down side being when key players like Karlos Dansby and Antonio Cromartie leave only after their value has increased.

“I’d like to see him in pads for the first time”, Arians said when asked about Johnson’s role for Saturday’s game. “That’s what we’re trying to do”. But the running game still produced less than three yards a carry. Andre Ellington has shown that he can be a big-play back, but he hasn’t shown he can handle a huge workload.

Now the question is whether Johnson has anything left. With the number of hits dwindling, he’s barely been a league-average back on aggregate the last two years. Johnson also continued to run with a noticeably slower burst, sometimes causing the 222-pound Ivory to look like the more explosive back.

Either way, Johnson and the Cardinals will be hoping he’s the exception who proves the rule in 2015.