Life changing fast for Arizona Cardinals rookie David Johnson

Bob McManaman | azcentral sports

Life can change in the blink of an eye.

Just look at how it’s changed for Cardinals rookie running back David Johnson, who went from wearing a hazmat suit and removing asbestos during a summer job in college to becoming the talk of the NFL on Monday morning.

Life has changed in a hurry for Johnson, all right, about as fast and furious as that unbelievable 47-yard touchdown run he made Sunday night during the Cardinals’ NFC West-clinching 40-17 rout of the Eagles in Philadelphia.

It was one of three touchdown runs that night for Johnson, who also rushed for 187 yards and became the first player in franchise history to rush for at least 180 yards and three TDs in a single game. He joins the great Jim Brown as the only players in league history to do that against the Eagles.

“Oh man, talk about a blur,” Cardinals left tackle Jared Veldheer told azcentral sports on Monday. “It was like a split second and all of a sudden, yeah, he was gone.

“It’s awesome having a back like that. He’s fast, he’s smooth and he’s really strong. Guys have real problems tackling him.”

Standing 6 feet 1 and weighing 224 pounds, Johnson is a load to bring down. And that might explain why defenders are trying to chop him low to make him topple. It happened to Johnson during the end of the first half on Sunday and when he took a hard hit to his knee, it immediately made him think about again, how life can change in the blink of an eye.

“I was a little worried at first because I thought I might have hyperextended it,” Johnson said Monday, a day after setting another Cardinals record by becoming the first rookie in team history to score 12 touchdowns in a single season.

Updated NFL playoff picture:

“It didn’t really hyperextend, though. It just went straight. So I didn’t have too much of a problem once I let my emotions, let my anxiety calm down on the field. I got in the locker room, moved it around a little bit, and it felt good.”

Johnson said he’ll be leery of would-be-tacklers trying to target him low, but he’s used to it.

“Yeah, I think I’ve been having that my whole life because I’m so tall as a running back. Lots of corners, lots of defensive backs usually go low on me.”

So far, Johnson hasn’t just held up against the punishment, he’s exceeded expectations since taking over for the injured Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington as the Cardinals’ featured tailback. He’s rushed for 378 yards in just three starts, which is more than 100 yards better than any other running back in the NFL between Weeks 13-15.

A third-round pick out of Northern Iowa University, Johnson said it’s simply “a blessing” to be in the situation he is in, having been able to contribute "after losing our two great backs.”

But that 47-yard touchdown run, in which he fought off a handful of tacklers and stiff-armed two others on his way to the end zone, just might do something magnificent to his mind-set and production moving forward.

“It could, especially momentum-wise, confidence-wise,” said Johnson, who set school records at Northern Iowa with 4,687 career rushing yards and 49 rushing touchdowns. “Being able to know I’m capable of breaking tackles and helping my team, stiff arming, doing everything that I could that maybe I might have doubted a little bit. But now it definitely helps out.”

Though he’s proved he can break tackles and be patient enough to wait for holes to develop in front of him, Johnson also has smartly discovered when it’s time to avoid risking big hits or potential fumbles and just hit the ground and take a knee.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “Even in the game yesterday, Larry (Fitzgerald) and a couple of the guys were saying, ‘Get down,’ if I can, especially when there’s five guys swarming at me and I really don’t have nowhere to go. It’s just ‘be smart.’ You don’t have to take all those blows to the body because those will really end up adding up.”

Johnson’s social status in the NFL is also soaring – not that he really takes notice.

“I don’t really feel any different,” he said. “I don’t really try to look too much into that. I try to focus more on what I need to learn, what I need to better at, and especially getting ready for two tough opponents, Green Bay and Seattle.”

Injury update

Outside of safety Tyrann Mathieu being diagnosed with a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee, the Cardinals escaped Sunday’s game without any other serious injuries and Arians said some players who were forced to sit out should be back this week.

Defensive lineman Josh Mauro suffered a calf injury, however, which could keep him out for this Sunday’s game against the visiting Packers. The Cardinals are hopeful of getting both Cory Redding and Frostee Rucker back from ankle injuries.

Arians also said safety Rashad Johnson (ankle) should be able to practice on Wednesday and that Ellington (turf toe) could also return this week.

“We’re hoping we can get a different shoe on him that’s comfortable,” Arians said.

Quarterback Carson Palmer dislocated the index finger on his right passing hand upon whacking it against Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin. He was able to stay in the game, however, after trainers “popped it back in and taped it up,” Arians said.

Asked whether the finger could pose a problem, Arians said, “No, I don’t think so.”

Smoke’s struggles

Arians said second-year wide receiver John Brown likely was just pressing too much when he dropped a few passes from Palmer on Sunday. Had Brown not been so caught up with trying to reach the 1,000-yard milestone - and the team's other receivers just concentrated a little better - Arians said Palmer would have finished with 400 or so passing yards instead of 274.

“All we had to do is catch them. Just catch them,” he said. “I think John was pressing. The 1,000-yard thing was in his head. He’ll get it. Just don’t press. Just catch the damn ball.”

There never was a concerted effort to make Palmer look for other targets after Brown’s initial drops, Arians said.

“No. I ain’t throwing it. That’s Carson’s job,” Arians said. “He grabbed him by the neck a couple times (and said), ‘I’m going to keep throwing to you. You can drop them. I’m going to keep throwing them, so start catching them.’ ”

Seeing green

Arians has mentioned it before and he was asked about it again on Monday: Just how disappointing will it be see a bunch of Green Bay fans in the stands this Sunday?

“There’s going to be. So, get used to it,” he said. “Hopefully, as our young fan base grows – again, we had a bunch of good fans in Philadelphia. Hundreds of them and it was great to see. But, so many of those tickets belong to brokers. But I know our young fan base isn’t going to sell their tickets.”

Cardinals rewind: What we learned in win vs. Eagles