Calvin Johnson explains why he wasn't targeted more vs. Chargers

By foxsports
Published

The Detroit Lions watched an 18-point, first-half lead evaporate on Sunday, as the San Diego Chargers stormed back to win it 33-28. While this was happening, Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson could do little more than watch.

Johnson finished the game with just two catches for 39 yards. Throughout the game, Johnson was double-covered with safety help over the top, according to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com.

"When the quarterback sees that," Johnson said, per MLive.com, "I'm not in the read process really."

Instead of forcing the ball to the best offensive player, quarterback Matthew Stafford went through his reads and tried to find the open receivers.

Stafford spoke about his progressions and getting Johnson the ball, via MLive.com:

We're just trying to take what the defense gives us, and they were doing a great job of playing two men to his side quite often. Cutting to him if they were shallow routes. They were paying a bunch of attention to him, just like all good teams that we play.

Every game is different, and we'll find ways to get him the ball when we need to.

Johnson was only targeted four times -- the same amount as rookie running back Ameer Abdullah. Fellow wideout Golden Tate led the team with eight targets, and tight end Eric Ebron was not far behind with five. Theo Riddick, Joique Bell and Lance Moore were each targeted twice.

(h/t MLive.com)