Saints tight end Juwan Johnson is finally ready to get back on the field to remind everyone exactly who he is and what he's capable of, but that's only after reminding himself.
During his time rehabbing from offseason ankle surgery, he'd frequently flip on a compilation video of some of his best moments. It's a cutups package he'd guess has about 200 moments from practice and games showcasing his skills. The title: "I'm him."
"When you’re out there, you’re not practicing, you kind of find yourself in honestly a dark place, man. ... it’s not easy, knowing that you feel like you’re behind," Johnson said after a practice at Tulane's Yulman Stadium. "But you also want to know that you’re still that guy as well, and I know I’m that guy."
The Tulane session, the first of the offseason open to fans, was Johnson's first official practice action since landing on the physically unable to perform list following foot surgery. The 27-year-old tight end played throughout the entirety of OTAs with what he described as a fracture, which was ultimately discovered after he felt soreness and had it checked out.
Johnson was activated from the PUP list this week and went through individual drills and routes on air, but he was held out of of the full team sessions. Head coach Dennis Allen said the hope is that his workload can be ramped up in the coming days. The Saints have their preseason finale on Sunday and face the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 of the regular season on Sept. 8.
"We need some of these guys that we’re counting on in the passing game so that we can really start to get the timing and the rhythm in the passing game that I think we’re not quite where we need to be right now," Allen said, also noting Rashid Shaheed, who has missed time with hamstring and toe injuries.
Star RB Alvin Kamara also made his practice return in a limited fashion after missing a majority of the final week of Irvine practices with a back issue.
While the timelines are a bit hazy for several players, Johnson left no doubt that he was making his return ahead of schedule -- something that was always his plan. He was a constant presence off to the side of the action during the California practices, sporting distinctive orange hair that he said was a gift for his daughter as she celebrated her first birthday.
Johnson did concede that he may have pushed things a bit too hard at points, but it's what got him back to where he needed to be in time for the season.
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"I already knew that, you know, once I got the surgery I was going to be back faster than anticipated," Johnson said. "If you give me 13 weeks, I’m gonna be back in 8. If you gave me 8 weeks, I was gonna be back in 4, and I think that’s more so a mindset thing. I think some people take the date as in this is when I’m gonna be back, but I always push the envelope, make it more of a mental thing than anything physical. When you believe you can do something you’re gonna be able to do it.”
If it was up to Johnson he'd play in the preseason finale and would call himself 100% already. That'll be up to the training staff, though, and that question will be left up in the air for now. The other question will be whether the former WR can pick up where he left off over the final month of the 2023 season, when he accounted for three of his four touchdowns and nearly 60% of his season's yardage. The connection between the tight end and Derek Carr had clearly grown, and Johnson credited his QB with checking on him regularly through rehab and making sure he was good mentally.
The season totals of 37 catches for 368 yards and 4 TDs were all significant drops from his prior season.
"I always want to better my last year and last year didn’t go as expected. The last four games, I guess, did, but at the end of the day there was always still meat left on the bone after those four games," Johnson continued. "Everybody was just like the four games were great, but I feel there was still so much I could’ve been doing, you know, so I’m just really excited about it.”
Johnson said he feels good about the new scheme and the mental work he's been able to get down, now it's about putting it on the field. The Saints are back in action for a pair of practices at the team facility on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by another open session at the Caesars Superdome on Friday.