The Bengals could be down their two best wideouts as they head to Chad Johnson's hometown, but their all-time leading receiver thinks they'll be OK even if they don't sign him for Sunday's game (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's FOX 19) in Miami.
Johnson, who plans to be on the Bengals sideline (memo to director of operations Jeff Brickner, he'll be calling soon), saw what newcomers Dohnte Meyers and Mitch Tinsley did in last Sunday's final drive against the Jags on throws from quarterback Joe Burrow.
"And for them, that's a good thing because if (Ja'Marr) Chase and Tee (Higgins) can't go., I have the utmost confidence in Tinsley and Myers being able to make plays," Johnson says. "It's all up to Zac Taylor understanding their skill sets and what their strengths are, and putting them in positions to be able to make those plays. Even if Tee and Chase can't go, I mean it'd be a blow, but I still won't feel that bad understanding how good Tinsley and Meyers are."
Naturally, though, the Ocho thinks he can still run a couple of his old break-your-ankle routes even though he's damn near older (48) than Meyers and Tinsley combined (53).
"I'm not kidding," Johnson says. "I texted Zac Taylor not long ago. Before training camp started. If you need some fresh legs, I'm still active. I'm still in shape."
He's got the washboard stomach and frying-pan abs, and throwing everything but the kitchen sink these days at the defenders now covering him at the Kendall Soccer Park in Miami.
"Listen," and how can you not because this is Chad Ochocinco?
"I play Sunday league soccer every single Sunday, so I'm in phenomenal shape. So that would be fun. My 48 is different than everybody else's 48. My 48 is like 23. Because I've never been hurt. I'm still active. I still train as if I'm still playing and competing, so it's kind of different.
"Every day. Monday through Friday. I have a trainer … I'm playing soccer in a competitive league at Kendall Soccer Park. So I have to be in shape, to be able to do that and compete and play at a high level. I can't embarrass myself … I'm the striker. I play up top … They're players that never made it pro, but they still love the game. The quality and the talent is really good."
But he won't be there Sunday. This is an NFL Sunday with his team playing his hometown Dolphins. He'll be there like he was in Houston last month for the win over the Texans.
"No disrespect to them, because that's my home team. I'm a huge Dolphin fan, and it's not a team that we should overlook," Johnson says. "But it's a game where we should go in, should be able to build our confidence as a team, defensively and offensively. We should be able to execute that offense with understanding this is a team that's in a rebuilding phase, and we are a team that has our sights set on trying to compete for a Lombardi Trophy."
Johnson thinks his Bengals can go all the way because of that new defense. He wore a Bengals defensive jersey in Houston.
"The defense has proven to be tremendous. Demetrius Knight (Jr.) is my favorite," Johnson says. "Oh my goodness, he's all over the place. That's why I had a jersey on when I was in Houston. Listen, you watch film, and I look at the all-22, and he's all over the place."
The Ocho likes what he sees from the other side on that all-22 because it will help the offense.
"DJ Turner (II) is playing really well," Johnson says of the Bengals captain and cornerback. "Teams aren't beating us the way they used to before, and I think defense used to be our Achilles' heel. I love the improvement from them, the energy, how fast they play, and the mistakes are minimal.
"I think even though we as an offense we're playing well, we're playing well in spurts … (The defense is) going to save us a lot until we start hitting on all cylinders and everything is working well."
With Chase in concussion protocol and Higgins nursing an abductor issue, Taylor says they're day-to-day. Johnson thinks Meyers, in his first season from the CFL, and Tinsley, a transplanted practice-squadder who was on the sideline opposite The Ocho in Houston on Sept. 20, can build on last Sunday's career-best days against the Jaguars.
He admires Meyers because he has what he didn't, even though he racked up 751 catches and more than 10,000 yards as a Bengal. Next Gen Stats has Meyers forcing six missed tackles on his 11 catches. That 54.5% missed forced tackle rate is the highest among all wide receivers with multiple catches.
"He's really, really good with the ball in his hands. I'm sure he had to have some type of background of playing running back. Maybe when he was young, similar to Ja'Marr Chase," Johnson says. "That's something that I really sucked at, and I'm good at running routes. If there was a knock on me, it's my ability to make people miss with the ball in my hands and to be able to be phenomenal with rack and YAC."
The big thing for Meyers and Tinsley, The Ocho says, is their consistency.
"That's what it comes down to. The NFL is all about what have you done for me lately, and since (Meyers) has come and made team, he's been consistent based on what I've been able to read about training camp. He's worked his tail off to get to this point, and now that he's got an opportunity, he has another opportunity, if those two can't go, to show how valuable and how much of an asset he can be.
"This is what (Tinsley) was doing since he got there. It was kind of shocking to me once they let him get away … I understood how valuable he was, especially in last preseason and some of the plays that he made. And listen, you have two people that you can count on, so I think we're going to be fine."
Johnson, who formed one of the league's most formidable duos in Cincinnati with Oregon State teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh 20 years ago, has been talking about Chase and Higgins being the best tandem for years.
(What better proof than last Sunday, when Chase went down early in the second quarter and Higgins went off for 157 yards and his best game in five seasons?)
"'I've voiced my opinion on us and our receiver corps and being one of the few teams in the NFL that are fortunate to have two number ones along with the Cowboys," Johnson says. "Obviously, when A.J. Brown was Philly, they were another team that to me had two number ones."
Sunday would be a nice moment. The Bengals all-time leading receiver watching the Bengals' best receiver. Just ask The Ocho about Chase.
"Hell, he's the best Bengals receiver in history in his fifth, sixth year, whatever it is," Johnson says. "He's the best receiver in the league. Anybody can see that. It's common sense."
Will he be Sunday?
There's a lot of time between now and then. Take Johnson. This week, he had a Q and A with the Adidas staff at its Portland, Ore., American headquarters in the wake of his signing with the company, and then he planned to drive to Corvallis and visit Oregon State for the first time since he left as a second-round pick of the Bengals in 2001.
But he'll be home in time for Bengals-Dolphins with some advice.
"Before the game starts, see Joe, wish him luck, and whatever receivers we do have going and up for that day, just tell them to go out there and do what you do and dominate," Johnson says. "Don't press. You know this game of football is simple. We've been playing it since we were four or five years old. You don't have to do anything extra. When those opportunities present themselves, especially for Tinsley and Myers, you've got to make the most of them."
Advice for the ages. Whether he's 48, 23, or five.
"Do what you do," The Ocho says. "It's football."
