Many felt the Jacksonville Jaguars found a steal in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft when they snagged defensive back Antonio Johnson with the 160th overall pick.
Excitement about the rookie continued to swell when he was a standout in training camp. Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell described Johnson as “spectacular” in August. But that enthusiasm was shelved when the rookie suffered a hamstring injury.
For the last two games of preseason and the first four games of the regular season, Johnson was sidelined. On Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, the rookie finally made his regular season debut.
“I was excited, there was a lot of emotions out there,” Johnson said. “I just went out there and tried to give it my all. First game back, first game playing. I just wanted to have fun.”
Johnson played 10 snaps on defense and 16 on special teams as the team’s starting gunner. Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said the team envisions Johnson continuing to play as a gunner while working his way into more snaps on defense.
“His role will increase, he’ll get more reps obviously on defense, maybe more dime situations or three-four if we go the three safety looks,” Pederson said. “If you go dime, he’s athletic enough to cover tight ends and running backs, stuff like that. I think you be smart with it, don’t overwhelm him with a lot of information, a lot of stuff right now.”
During a decorated career at Texas A&M, where Johnson was a two-time All-SEC selection, he lined up in the slot on the majority of his defensive snaps. Similar to Pederson, Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell said Johnson may see more snaps if the team decides to have three or four safeties on the field.
“It was good to get his first dose of play in,” Caldwell said. “I thought he played well. He covered well, he had good play speed. He’ll continue to grow into his role.”
The goal for Johnson is to show that he deserves that bigger role.
“As the weeks go on, just keep proving myself in practice on special teams and on defense,” Johnson said. “Really just give the coaches confidence in me to allow me to go out there and play.”
