What has happened to Andre Johnson?

For the first five years of Kylie Johnson’s life, daddy worked at NRG Stadium. She’d dial his cell phone and they’d chat – before practice, after practice, before games, after games. Andre Johnson would tell his daughter he was at work, then he’d quiz her on what that meant.

“Oh, I know where you are,” Kylie would say. “You’re at NRG Stadium.”

He’d smile.

“You’re right,” Andre would tell her.

The first change of address of Johnson’s 13-year NFL career came in March, when the greatest player in Houston Texans' history was released following a messy divorce with the team that drafted him third overall in 2003 and paid him roughly $88 million in the years since. The free agent wide receiver lasted on the open market all of two days. Forty-eight hours after he was cut, Frank Gore was leaping into Johnson’s arms inside a hallway at the Indianapolis Colts’ West 56th Street facility. The former college teammates and longtime friends had signed their new contracts with their new team.

The reunion was complete. They'd start over in Colts' blue.

Thus NRG Stadium went from Johnson’s home to Johnson’s former home. Except to one person. Kylie wasn’t buying.

“At first, she didn’t believe me,” Johnson remembered. “I was trying to explain to her that I was going to play for a new team in a different city. She would shake her head. She was like, ‘No you’re not. You can’t be.’”

It was all foreign to Johnson and his tightly-knit inner circle, which includes Kylie, his mother, Karen, and uncle Andre Melton. Houston was the only NFL home they'd ever known.

“He really wanted to retire there,” Karen said last spring.

Instead, transition. A new office, one Kylie learned eventually, called Lucas Oil Stadium. A new team. A new number. A new quarterback. A new role.

Yet a month in, the Colts are still waiting for Andre Johnson to arrive.

The numbers are alarming: The team’s most expensive offseason addition on offense has been targeted just 20 times in four games. He’s caught just seven passes for 51 yards. Seven catches for 51 yards? That used to be a half’s worth of work for Andre Johnson.

Now the fear is it’s his new reality.

“Obviously we’d all love to see him have more catches to this point,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “I know he would. But he’s a selfless guy. He’s going to keep working and keep grinding.”

There’s more. There’s the fact that Johnson has more drops so far (one) than touchdowns (zero). There’s three three targets and no catches in the last two games.There’s this startling statistic: In 169 career games with the Texans, Johnson went catchless in a game just once; it's already happened twice with the Colts.

Not exactly the return on investment – Johnson signed a three-year, $21 million deal in March – the Colts (2-2) were hoping for.

“Anytime you’ve been somewhere for 12 seasons and you make a change, it’s challenging,” the eternally even-keeled Johnson said Monday inside the Colts’ locker room. “But at the same time it’s an experience and I’m just rolling (with it). I don’t have any regrets on any decisions I’ve made.”

This week he returns to NRG Stadium (8:25 p.m. Thursday, CBS, NFL) for the first time as a visitor while doubts about his age and ability swell around him.
No longer is the question, Can Andre Johnson play like the Andre Johnson of old?

No, it’s worse than that. Now it’s, Can Andre Johnson still play at all?

“If there was ever a game that he would have a better day, it would be this week,” said Colts backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who threw Johnson’s way just twice in 47 pass attempts Sunday. “He’s a pro. I know the production might not be there for fantasy football, but he does everything we ask him in practice, and he’s a done a good job.”

But still. Two looks on 47 throws? T.Y. Hilton was targeted 11 more times than Johnson on Sunday. Coby Fleener was targeted 10 more. Just as concerning as his quarterbacks’ repeated refusal to look his way in games is Johnson’s inability to create separation from the opposing secondary. It seems on most downs Johnson’s the third, fourth, even fifth option. Is Hilton open? Nope. How about Donte Moncrief? Nah. What about Fleener? Or Phillip Dorsett?

Johnson, for stretches, seems to disappear.

Hasselbeck, in part, chalked it up to his new role: Johnson, throughout his career, has primarily has played out wide. With the flurry of weapons at the Colts’ disposal, he’s frequently lined up in the slot this season.

“He’s playing inside more than he’s used to,” Hasselbeck said. “I think he’s doing a good job. We haven’t been lights out (on offense) across the board. I’m sure that will come. We’ll break through as we go.”

To hear Johnson tell it, this is what he signed up for. He wasn’t naïve about the situation he walked into with this offense last spring. There are weapons abound. Patience, on this squad, during this season, will be Andre Johnson’s most valuable virtue.

“You have to be realistic with yourself,” he said Monday. “Coming into this situation, I knew what could happen and so when you’re realistic with yourself and not thinking above and beyond what can happen, then you’ll be fine and you can deal with it.”

What’s clear is this situation isn’t like his last one. Johnson averaged 84 catches per season in his 12 years in Houston and had five seasons with 100 or more. He made seven Pro Bowls. He’s gone from The Man to The Forgotten Man.

Perhaps most puzzling: Johnson was dominant in training camp in August. He was the 34-year-old receiver who looked 24, springy and sure-handed, a benefactor of what appeared a seamless transition into Pep Hamilton’s pass-happy offense. The rapport was so palpable between he and his new quarterback their steady production seemed like a forgone conclusion this season. Luck to Johnson. Luck to Johnson. Luck to Johnson.

Then the season started. Then Johnson disappeared.

Johnson didn’t have much interest in reliving his glory days in Houston on Monday. Not after a second straight week that produced more questions than catches.
“Everybody is asking me how I feel,” he said. “I won’t know how I’ll feel until I experience it.”

That comes Thursday. And with it, another chance for Johnson to prove to his new employer – not to mention his old one – that, at 34, he's not done just yet. One of his new teammates isn’t worried.

“He’s a true leader,” Hilton said. “His character shows it. Even when he’s not getting the ball, he’s helping us out. He’s always happy. Just seeing him out there knowing things aren’t going his way, the first thing I said when I walked in this locker room was, ‘I need you this week.’ I expect a big week out of him."

For Johnson, Thursday’s game – which conveniently takes place in the city where his NFL career began – seems like the perfect place to start.


(indystar.com)