Second-year safety Matt Johnson hopes to return to the field on Monday after being forced out of the Hall of Fame game due to a “stress reaction” in his foot, just the latest in a string of injuries that has kept Johnson sidelined pretty much since he came to Dallas last April as a fourth round pick out of Eastern Washington.
Johnson missed his entire rookie season and all but one preseason game last year with hamstring issues.
“I thought it was just a sore ankle or something like that,” Johnson said of this latest injury, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I felt it the whole game and in warm-ups and stuff. The whole pushing off, and that tackle, I think I heard it pop. But I don’t think it was anything more substantial than what it was. It was just kind of building on top of it.”
Stress reactions are often the result of a player being overworked, but Johnson told reporters this week that he doesn’t believe that’s the issue in his case.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t know. I’m just trying to stay positive. I don’t think it’s too much work. Maybe last year with my hamstrings, I was trying to come back too soon, but this is totally different. It just kind of happened.
“I’ve been doing practices just like everybody else. That’s the frustrating thing. I’m not doing anything extra than anybody else.”
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