It was still early September and Jermaine Johnson was ready to get this party started. Then like that, the Jets' party was crashed and Johnson was sent home to rehab and contemplate the five stages of post-injury grief.
The fourth-year Jets linebacker/edge rusher seems to have come through it all in a "good head space" and with a renewed sense of purpose.
"As a football player, you don't really think about what you like outside of football because you're playing football," Johnson told Eric Allen on The Official Jets Podcast. "You're around your teammates more than your family or anybody else in your life. This is your life.
"Then like that," Johnson said, snapping his figures to indicate the metaphorical pause in his career as well as the literal snapping of his Achilles tendon in the third quarter of the season's second game at Tennessee, "now you've got rehab and that's, max, probably four hours a day. So what do you do with the other hours? For the first time in my life, it was like, damn, now I see what people are talking about. I've got to figure out what to do, how to be productive, and not allow myself to get in a dark place."
The first stage of the injury for Johnson was a brief period of denial.
"I'd never been hurt, but I just knew," the emerging force on the Jets defense said of the severity of his injury. He said the medical staff came onto the field and asked if he was OK. "I was silent for 10, 20 seconds because I knew when I finally said what was wrong, it was going to be reality. So I was like, let me just sit here for a few more seconds so I can be an uninjured football player for a little longer."
'I'm Not Strong Enough to Do This'
Then came another quick interlude for Johnson, of gridiron despair.
"One of the first things I thought when I went down is, I can't do this, I'm not strong enough to do this,' " he recalled about his long rehab ahead. "I've seen guys go down, and I couldn't imagine being away from the game, away from my teammates for that long. Then I got hurt for the first time in my life, and I was like, yeah, I can't do that."
This stage may have ended with Johnson's teary address to the rest of the Jets at a team meeting, when it really hit home for him.
"I took that with pride that I want to change the Jets' narrative and do everything I can for them," he said. "And the fact that it all came crashing down on one routine play ... it really hit me hard."
But Johnson, who's always had a self-reliant, can-do approach to his game and his life, regained his equilibrium and began the Achilles rehab process, which involved several series of sometimes frustrating "progress and plateaus." To get him through this time, he has relied on those close to him such as his girlfriend and his mother. And of course his teammates, including one who had gone through a similar injury a little more than a year before he did — Aaron Rodgers.
"This is something no one knows," Johnson said regarding an ask of the Jets' Hall of Fame-to-be QB. "I was taking a PJ [private jet] out to LA to go get fixed, and I was like, Aaron's got a jet, let me ask him if I can use his jet, I'll pay everything, however it goes, and you save some money using a friend's jet instead of a charter jet."
A Gift from the Quarterback
Rodgers not only agreed to lend him his wings, but A-Rod insisted on paying for the entire flight, which can cost a tidy mid-five-figures amount as suggested by online charter flight calculators.
"He's like, let me do this for you," Johnson said. "I got a little emotional because I'm not used to really anyone doing anything for me, especially something like that. He handled it all, and outside of everything else he's done for me, not having to do anything financially, in the blink of an eye. ... He's saying it's his pleasure to allow him to do that for me. He's a great guy and I just want to put that out there."
To help his mental outlook, 'Main immersed himself even more deeply in the gaming and streaming world. His favorite games: Call of Duty, Marvel Rivals, Fortnight, and a little bit but not too much Madden football. He also began his own tightknit community on the Discord.com gaming group app and presented an award on QTCinderella's Stream Awards show.
Through all these stages, Johnson has emerged not with a timetable for his return to action but with a renewed commitment to wreak havoc for the Jets and against the rest of the NFL's offenses. As he eloquently said, "I didn't come from nothing but I didn't come from much." He's survived and thrived in football on the junior college level, at two FBS universities, and for two full seasons as the Jets' growing edge rusher culminating with his selection to the NFL's Pro Bowl Games last season.
'I Miss Putting My Body on the Line'
Of life in Southern California for the time being, he said, "It's been all right. It sounds like you should enjoy the great weather, palm trees, the beach, and obviously I live good. But my D-line coach texted me in Week 6 or 7 and asked how life was treating me out here. And I was like, honestly, I'm not meant to be sitting here with my feet kicked up. I belong going to war with you guys. That's where I belong. It doesn't' feel right. I miss putting my body on the line for a greater cause. I said if I could go out there and not record a single stat but help you guys win, I would do that."
But it's more than just being with his mates again. He wanted to be the cornerstone of the Jets defense this season, bettering his second season with a third campaign on his way to a career-long stay in green and white. And he can't wait to team up with Will McDonald, who led the Jets with 10.5 sacks in his second pro season.
How good can Jermaine Johnson, No. 11, be in 2025? He has a simple message for his followers, in his online community, in the stands, at home in front of the big-screen and listening on the car radio.
"If I was the fans, I wouldn't be worried about how I'm going to look next year," he said. "You all just enjoy it. I'll do what I'm supposed to do."
