NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Coach Mike Munchak is hoping the Titans soon work out a deal with Chris Johnson so the running back can get back to work and bolster a running game that is showing early promise.

"We're three weeks away from starting ... it's getting to be important that we get this thing worked out," Munchak said Sunday. "As coaches, we don't have any control over all that. But you get anxious. You're trying to make decisions on how we move forward so we're all hoping it's done soon so we can move forward and quit having to do these kind of questions."

The Titans open the season Sept. 11 at Jacksonville, and Munchak, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman, is making it clear that whatever Tennessee does offensively will develop from the running game.

Tennessee rolled up 198 yards rushing in a 17-16 loss at St. Louis on Saturday night without Johnson. Rookie Jamie Harper started in place of Johnson's backup, Javon Ringer, and the fourth-round pick from Clemson ran 11 times for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Stafon Johnson added 68 yards rushing and the Titans outgained the Rams 198-44 on the ground.

Munchak said the Titans aren't going to entertain trade offers for Johnson, a three-time Pro Bowl running back who has the most yards rushing of any NFL back over the past three seasons. The coach also doesn't agree that the Titans picked up negotiating leverage with how well they ran the ball through some big holes without Johnson.

"I could easily stand here and say CJ would've scored on three of those," Munchak said. "I don't know if he would have, but with his speed coming through there ... We're lucky we had guys who stepped up."

Johnson's holdout started when he didn't report to training camp with the rest of the Titans on July 29. General manager Mike Reinfeldt told The Associated Press on Aug. 11 that they were willing to make Johnson the highest-paid running back in the history of the NFL.

Johnson, who is due to earn more than $1 million in 2011 in the fourth year of his five-year contract, tweeted "god is good" to Larry Fitzgerald on Saturday night after news broke about the Arizona receiver's deal worth up to $120 million.

If Johnson and his agent Joel Segal are counting on Bud Adams to speed up the process, the Titans owner said Sunday that with two years left on the running back's contract he backs Reinfeldt.

"I'm not gonna make any offer with the way he's acting. Life's too short," Adams told TitanInsider.