Johnson on his tour through New York: Madden cover, Letterman and the NFL Draft

View more photos of Johnson's week in New York

“New York was crazy. The whole scene in Time Square – that was pretty amazing. They shut down one side of the street. They had the stage. The fans were deep – thousands of fans around there, they were making a lot of noise. It was a lot of fun. Once they made the pick I had to go change into my uniform, come back down to the stage that had turf on it and I did the actual cover photo shoot right there.

“I don’t know if they’re going to actually use one of those pictures – I hope not because I had my visor off.  We get to go through and pick which one we want, so I’ll make sure that I have my visor on. I have to have it on – it just doesn’t look right if I don’t.

“Once I did that, from that point on: busy, busy, busy. I had to do an appearance and then I only went out for about an hour because I started Wednesday at nine o clock – interview, interview, autograph signing, interview, interview, another autograph signing. Letterman, draft and then went out one more time.

“Letterman was very cool. It was a lot of fun – a lot more fun than I thought. My Top 10 was advice for young athletes. Some things they had to take out last minute, so they revised the list right before, so I was nervous because I didn’t get to read over all of them before reading it live. I knew about half of them – like the first five I was good. The Kardashian one was funny.

“The other funny thing is: they told me to bring three suits – I had the suit on for Letterman and then I had to go to the draft. I was going to wear the same suit. But Letterman didn’t air until the next day, so they didn’t want me to have on the same suit for the draft on Thursday and then Letterman on Friday, so I had to change before going to the draft.

“Being at the draft was awesome. One, getting to go back to watch all the kids experience what I went through because I knew what I was. That was cool to see them go through that with their families. A lot of joyous moments there. I got to meet a bunch of the former players like Terrell Davis, chatted with Barry a couple times. I never really did that – sit down and talk to Barry. Chatted with him a couple times – it was great.”

Johnson: “I know I’m not on Twitter every day, but when I do get on, I read what (the fans are) sending me.”

“Moment I landed in Detroit, from the fans in the airport to here, I haven’t been able to sit down yet. It’s very exciting and I get more excited the more I hear from my family and stuff like that. I’m usually only up here to work, so it hasn’t really sunk in.

“There are a couple things about staying here: one, comfort level. I’ve been here. To get up right now and move off would be tough. Two, to have a good quarterback. You’ve got some good teammates, got good defense. There are so many positives that we have going on here that we could still get better from that … it would be ridiculous to leave.

“My career in Detroit has been a ride so far. I’ve experienced ups and downs these five years. I haven’t experienced the greatest of ups, but definitely winning and being in the playoffs is a start.

“This last month before the offseason program, I’ll start training. Time to get back into training real good before I get back up here. I link up with my trainer every morning at 10 o’clock.

“He has a plan for me every day – something different every day – but all he does is focus on all the areas that are most likely to get injured playing this sport and he’s building those muscles around those areas to make you less susceptible to those injuries. The last two years he’s done pretty good. This will be my third year working with him.

“As for the fans of Detroit – since the whole Twitter thing has gone up, you really get an appreciation for your fans because my fans hit me up every day. I definitely read what they’re tweeting me, but when you tweet me to retweet you, it might not happen because I get that a million times a day.

“I know I’m not on Twitter every day, but when I do get on, I read what they’re sending me. I can’t respond to everybody, but I wish I could because I’m very appreciative. Not just me, but the team, for being my fans, being Detroit Lions fans. They’ve been there since I’ve been here and much love to them.”

Johnson: “We don’t plan on falling short – we’ll be back.”

“To sum it up, we had a pretty good season. Made the playoffs – 10-6 – flipped our record from last year. The good thing is there’s a lot that we corrected, but there are things that we could do better. There is a positive light going into the offseason knowing that we have so much potential for next year. There are a lot of things we see that we can do better. I’m looking forward to getting back to work but, right now it’s time to just rest.

“Shout out to the fans for hanging in there. I’m glad we were able to give you something to look forward to for the future. We don’t plan on falling short – we’ll be back.”

Johnson: “Myself and Nate – we’re going to have the guys right so we come ready to play on Saturday”

“It’s my first time in the postseason. It’s cool because all your peers are watching you. It makes you want to step your game to another level and, at the same time, make sure everybody – not just yourself – is controlled. You can’t control more than what you do yourself, but I can control my group to a certain extent.

“It’s about having everybody on the right page so that we do everything we’re supposed to do to give ourselves the best chance to win. I feel that myself and Nate – we’re going to have the guys right so we come ready to play on Saturday.

“There were some bright spots the last time we played at New Orleans, but we didn’t play our best game because of penalties – that was the main reason. There were some mental errors. We have to eliminate those things, which we have the last few weeks. We’ve been moving the ball up and down the field since San Diego, really, and hopefully we can just keep on clicking.

“We’re prepared for a a lot of offense this game. I like to think of it as not us going into a shootout with Brees, but us being able to go out every drive and move the ball. If we move the ball, we’re going to get explosives, which turns into points for us. As long as we’re moving the ball, we’re going to have success. Just no dumb penalties – you can’t take explosives away with penalties. That kills me.”

Johnson: “It’s cool to make the Pro Bowl. I’m looking forward to going back … unless we’re playing.”

“It’s cool to make the Pro Bowl. It’s definitely an honor to be elected by your peers for the second time in a row. I had a good time last year and I’m looking forward to going back … unless we’re playing. Hopefully that’s what’s going on.

“This past weekend was very relaxing. We had a couple days off trying to heal up and get fresh. That’s the biggest thing, I feel, at this time in the season. It’s not just me that thinks that, but guys that have been to the playoffs. We are just trying to be as fresh as possible going into these games.

“Players had different reactions to the win over San Diego. Some players wanted to be low-key. It’s big to some guys, it wasn’t to others. Some guys have been in Detroit for awhile, so they understand how significant it was for the city, for this organization. But there’s guys that have been on playoff teams, just as recent as last year. It might not be as big a thing to them as it is to the rest.

“I always look forward to going to Lambeau just because of the history that’s there. We’d prefer to play there earlier in the year when it isn’t zero degrees, but hopefully we’ll get some good weather on Sunday.

“It’s a big game because it’s the Packers. We haven’t won there in awhile but, at the same time, you never know what they’re going to do as far as how they’re going to play their guys because they have a first-round bye, so they may view it as, ‘I don’t want to get my guys hurt,’ and trying to keep their guys as fresh as they can. You never know.”

Johnson: “I believe this is one of those games where the crowd could be a big factor, especially if we come out hot like we need to.”

“If I think about this being the biggest game of my career – yeah, I could say that. But without thinking about it, I’m just looking at it as another game. That’s how I approach everything – it’s just a game. But it’s a pretty big game because it could put us in the playoffs. I know the crowd’s going to be off the chain, so I’m looking forward to it a lot. I believe this is one of those games where the crowd could be a big factor, especially if we come out hot like we need to.

“We will have a challenge with their secondary. It starts with (Eric) Weddle. The dude just knows where the ball’s going. He studies film a lot – I think he does a good job with that. He is always around the ball. The other guys are good cover corners. They’re allowed to get their hands on me, so that’s one thing: we have to be physical. If we’re physical, we can control some of that stuff and be able to get on our routes like we need to do. But we have to be physical coming into that game. This game needs to be that. We have to have that mindset.

“San Diego is coming into this game on a hot streak and I knew that was going to happen. Most of the team has been together for a while. Phillip (Rivers) has been there. He has mostly the same receivers, tight end. I knew it was just a matter of time. I was just hoping they stayed on their streak of bad games, but it’s a good team. I knew that and everybody knows that so we have to come to play.

“It is tough to have all of the injuries to our secondary. We know what we have on this team when we’re healthy and to not have everybody healthy, it sucks. But that’s where those guys that are coming in can make a name for themselves. I picture those guys coming in and hoping they’re just on their stuff and they’re coming in with the mindset, ‘Okay, this is my chance.’”

Johnson: ‘Regardless of the coverage, I always feel I can get the ball. Especially when we’re in the red zone. I feel like I can get in the endzone.’

“Playing for something at this point in time in the year – it’s a first time for me. It feels good. Just knowing that everything counts.

“I’ve been keeping my eye on the playoff race a little bit. The teams that we’re in the mix with and just trying to see where we’re are, but we can’t really worry about that too much. Just trying to stay focused on what we’ve got to do – first thing is beating Oakland.

“One thing Oakland has: they have size and speed. That’s just something that ever since the late Al Davis has been there, it’s something that they’ve been known for: size and speed. That’s the main thing we’ve got to deal with with those guys.

“We’ve got to take advantage of different outlets because, a lot of times, it’s tough as far as the safety over the top and the corner underneath to get the ball to me. We’ve got to figure out ways to get me the ball, but at the same time, it leaves opportunities for other guys to make plays.

“Regardless of the coverage, I always feel I can get the ball. Especially when we’re in the red zone. I feel like I can get in the endzone.”

Johnson: “You’ve got in between the whistles for 60 minutes to get at … whoever you’re playing against. Use that time to win your match-up.”

“Most of the time when we’re having struggles moving the ball on offense it is because of self-inflicted penalties. Just because these penalties were personal fouls and things like that it gets more attention, but throughout the season that’s been our thing. We’re not moving because of self-inflicted penalties, whether it’s a false start or a misalignment or something like that. Just because these last two weeks have been personal fouls that have been on national TV, they’re going to get a lot of attention.

“I know it’s hard to see why players would commit penalties like that but put it like this. In the Titus Young situation, we were down there about to score a touchdown. As a defensive player in that situation, if you get a personal foul, it’s going to be half the distance to the goal. So, in that situation – we were on the three-yard line – it would have been a yard-and-a-half penalty. But for the offense, if we get a foul it’s a 15-yard penalty, which it was.

“They can entice you and try to get you going. That’s what they do. They try to get you out of position by any means and they were definitely pushing buttons and we lost control there. You’ve got to maintain self-control. You’ve got in between the whistles for 60 minutes to get at that person, whoever you’re playing against. Use that time to win your match-up.

“It’s definitely different for a rookie, but you’ve got to be smart, period. Point blank. But, as a rookie, he didn’t really understand. I think he learned how much that hurt us. It’s a selfish penalty, we can’t have that kind of stuff. For the guys that have been here for awhile – that have been through the ups and downs – to be this close to the playoffs and to have something like that hold you back is tough. Not saying that his penalty made us lose the game or anything like that, but those little things, you can’t have errors like that when the games count this much.

“We’re still in it, though, and I know, on our side of the ball, we’re not discouraged at all. We’re moving the ball. It’s just those penalties come at the wrong time. I was telling the guys on Sunday, we can overcome one, but if you get multiple penalties on a drive, that’s very hard to overcome.”

Johnson: “In any NFL season there are going to be ups and downs and you just have to battle through it.”

“It’s the same story every time, if you don’t execute and you turn the ball over, you don’t win games. That was our case against the Packers, and that’s been our case the last several games. We’ve been turning it over. Assignments weren’t executed like they’re supposed to be and when that happens, you’re not on the field for long and you can’t put points up. It’s as simple as that.

“It was the turnovers that made this game. It gave them great field position, it flipped the field position in their favor, and they made some good plays too; but at the same time, we feel like when we execute and do everything that we’re supposed to do, we’ll prevail every time.

“Interceptions happen. One thing you can do is take the good out of it. In any NFL season there are going to be ups and downs and you just have to battle through it. If you’re resilient through those times, you usually come out for the better and you’re in a better situation later on. Hopefully that’s our situation; we learn from this and put those turnovers and things like that behind us.

“There haven’t been any changes for the worst between me and Matthew, you know, we’re working through the hard times as a team – it’s not just me and Matt out there, everybody’s got to get their chemistry right with him and go full speed with every play so they can see where we’re going to be at. If we’re not doing that, if the timing is off, you get a totally different look in the game. We’ve been practicing well this week, we’ve had two great practices so far and we have to finish it up tomorrow.

“One thing New Orleans does well is they rally to the ball. They bring a lot of pressure, you never know where it’s going to come from, you have to be ready for it, especially on third down because you know it’s coming. If we get that mindset, ‘Ok, we know it’s coming,’ and we expect pressure and react to zone, then we’ll be fine.

“We haven’t had a lot of opportunities at all playing on primetime, so this time we have to go out there – we did it one time, we did it right on Monday Night – but we have to put to bed what happened on Thanksgiving and get ourselves right, and come back out and put on a good show.

“I’ve already reached a landmark of 1,000 yards, but I definitely want to keep up my average and be able to help this team out through the rest of the season. I feel like if I can get over 100 yards a game, I’ll be able to help my team out a ton and we’re on the right track. If multiple receivers can get over 100 yards, that’s fantastic. That’s one thing that I feel, that if we do our thing as a receiving corps, we’ll win the game.

“Being third overall in Pro Bowl voting, that’s what’s up. That’s very cool. Considering where we’ve been, we’ve come a long way and that’s very cool.”

Johnson on the Packers: “Here in this building, we’re a team that feels we match up real well against those guys.”

“I’m sure there is talk about Green Bay being a big-time opponent, but, here in this building, we’re a team that feels we match up real well against those guys. We beat those guys last year up here in our place and we’re looking forward to this one very much.

“I’m not thinking about the playoffs, but this is definitely the first step. We take care of this game – not that any of the rest of the games are going to be easy – but I think it will put us where we need to be at, definitely. Especially in our division.

“As far as who we play down the stretch … really I don’t even worry about it. I’m just worried about the team I’ve got at hand. One thing I got away from is looking down to who we have on the schedule next week, because then it takes away my focus from who we’ve got at hand. If I just find myself focusing on who we’ve got, it’s a lot easier that way. You don’t worry about all the extra, outside stuff.

“Looking at how we can get at the Packers’ defense … one, when we spread the ball out – when we get in our quads formation and things like that – there’s match-ups to be had. Whether it be on Woodson, on some of the other guys – we’ve just got to find them. That’s our key is just finding those match-ups and if we find them, we have to exploit them. If we don’t, then obviously we’re not doing something right.

“But then if Kevin can come out and do what he did last week – just run the ball with the productively … he doesn’t even have to do what he did last week, but if he does, that’s even better. Those things will help us out a lot this week.”