and with his injured back 4. At first, Viper shades it looked like a gutsy call, yankee noodle perhaps a message to send to his team that he believed in them enough to go for Pit Viper black it on fourth down. But by the second fourth down conversion attempt, Kanken frost green it just seemed desperate from Dan Quinn. "I'm doing what every other person in Hollywood does: they dictate who they want to do interviews with. Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, whoever. People throw their weight around. He remained the starting center for the last eight games of the season after Nick Mangold was unable to play due to a recurring ankle injury.

Mangold suffered an ankle injury in Week 7 against the Baltimore Ravens and was placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.[15]Johnson was slated to be the starting center after the New York Jets released Nick Mangold on February 25, 2017, after having a successful run while replacing him while he was injured during the 2016 season.On March 9, 2017, the Jets placed a second round tender on Johnson and signed him to a one year, $2.74 million contract.[16]Head coach Todd Bowles named Johnson the starting center ahead of Jonotthan Harrison.[17] He started the New York Jets' season opening 21 12 loss at the Buffalo Bills.

Throughout his first seven starts, Johnson was ranked the lowest graded center in the NFL by Pro Football Focus.