Frank about Tank: Bengals' Johnson is a changed man since his days with Bears

By foxsports
Published

 Kevin Goheen, Special to Chicago Sun-Times
 
Tank Johnson was eager to tackle the job of putting together bunk beds for his daughters. It was this past summer, and a camera crew for NFL Films and the HBO series ''Hard Knocks'' was following the former Bears defensive tackle around as he prepared for training camp with his new team, the Cincinnati Bengals.

"It took us about four hours.

It was definitely longer than I thought it would take putting bunk beds together," Johnson said Wednesday, chuckling about the memory as he sat at his locker. "But we got it done, and my kids are sleeping good in their bunk beds."

The picture of Johnson as a normal parent struggling to fit all of the nuts, bolts and boards together into a sturdy construction starkly contrasts with how he and the Bears parted ways two years ago.

Johnson has spent the 28 months since his departure from Chicago rebuilding his professional career and personal life and, after spending the last two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, he seemingly has found a good spot in Cincinnati to do both. Johnson will get his first opportunity to showcase his refocused skills directly to his old team as the Bears play the Bengals on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.

Cincinnati is coming off a 28-17 home defeat against Houston, a loss that left the Bengals 4-2 and tied with Pittsburgh for first place in the AFC North.

"This has been a good place," Johnson said. "I think I came to a group of hard-working players and coaches, and that's exciting about this team. In the present, I think about what's going on now, but I've got some good memories [about Chicago]. I played with some good people and was coached by some great coaches."

The Bears released Johnson in late June 2007, three days after he had been arrested in his home state of Arizona for "DUI Impaired to the Slightest Degree." Though blood tests eventually would show Johnson's blood-alcohol level had been under the legal limit, it wasn't his first run-in with the law. He had spent two months in jail that year for violating probation on a gun charge, and the NFL already had announced Johnson would be suspended the first eight games of the 2007 season for that violation.

The incident in Arizona led Bears general manager Jerry Angelo to publicly state that Johnson had "compromised the credibility of our organization" when his release was announced.

The Bengals signed Johnson to a one-year contract as an unrestricted free agent in April. Neither he nor the team has been dwelling on the past, instead choosing to focus on the here-and-now.

"Tank has come in and been very professional on how he handles things, on how he studies and gets together with the guys trying to do things the right way," Bengals defensive line coach Jay Hayes said. "Evidently he has learned from the things that have happened to him in the past, and he knows that this can be taken away from you. This is very important to him."

Said coach Marvin Lewis: "Tank is a couple years removed from there, so that's rehashing old stuff. ... I think he has enjoyed it here. I think it's been a good fit for his family. He's got his family with him, which I think is great. We just have to get him 100 percent healthy. He'll be healthier this week than he was last week. He'll keep getting better."

Johnson started the first three games of the season for the Bengals before a foot injury sidelined him for victories at Cleveland and Baltimore. He returned in limited duty against Houston and notched his first sack of the season in the process. Johnson participated fully in practice Wednesday and expects to return to a more prominent role Sunday against the Bears.

The Bengals will need him to do so after they lost starting defensive end Antwan Odom, who is second in the NFL with eight sacks, for the season with a torn right Achilles tendon against the Texans. Domata Peko, Cincinnati's other starting defensive tackle, missed most of the Houston game with a knee injury. Peko did not practice Wednesday, and his status for Sunday's game is unknown.

In Dallas, Johnson played nose tackle in the Cowboys' 3-4 defensive alignment. He has been moved back to the tackle spot in Cincinnati's 4-3 scheme, a position that better suits him.

"The first time he came here and practiced, he was blowing up plays, busting through the line," offensive lineman Nate Livings said. "It's just more instinctive for him to play that technique. It's like writing with your left hand when you're right-handed. You can do it, but you're not as good at it."

Bears coach Lovie Smith has seen the same physical traits in Johnson's play now that led the Bears to select Johnson in the second round of the 2004 draft. Johnson started 13 games for the Bears in 2006, including all three postseason games as they reached Super Bowl XLI.

"He's got a lot of quickness, great speed for a guy his size, and he's tough," Smith said. "He plays hard; he's a guy that is coachable and likeable. Those are the things that you're seeing in his football play.

"I feel like I'll always have a relationship with Tank, too. We did everything we possibly could to help Tank when he was here. It didn't work out, but I was excited when he got another opportunity to go to the Cowboys, and then really excited when he was able to go to Cincinnati. I pull for him each week."