The plan for Chris Johnson—at least the plan the Jets are stating publicly—calls for him to share the carries with Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell, the duo who evenly split the team's running back duties in 2013.

Johnson was every bit a workhorse running back with his previous team, the Titans, with whom he averaged 290 carries over six seasons. A committee system like the one the Jets are proposing would obviously be a major change in working conditions for him.

Johnson is still recovering from offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee; he missed organized team activities, was limited during minicamp, and is hopeful he can be ready once training camp begins in three weeks.

But he still thinks he can play so well, he can force the Jets into making him their feature back.

"Once the season starts and once we're playing and I'm doing my thing, I'm pretty sure if I'm making plays they're going to want to keep handing the ball off to me," Johnson told NFL.com's Around the League in a phone interview Tuesday. "If they want me to continue making plays, I'm pretty sure I can't do that if I'm on the sideline."

When he signed with the Jets in April after being released by the Titans, Johnson made it clear he'd be OK with sharing the load with Ivory and Powell. And running backs coach Anthony Lynn has since said the Jets would have to be "strategic" in how they use Johnson "to keep him fresh so that he can be the explosive guy that I know that he can be."

Johnson turns 29 in September. He may not be the same running back who rushed for 2,000 yards in 2009, but he still hasn't had a season in which he rushed for fewer than 1,000. Johnson recently told the New York Daily News he still thinks he can be a 2,000-yard back. That he would tell NFL.com he's capable of compelling the Jets to continue to give him the ball is consistent with that belief.

"I want to do the best thing to help the team," Johnson said, per NFL.com. "That's coming out here and making big plays week after week after week. As for the time share and all that, it won't be an issue I'm pretty sure.

"That's with any position on the field, if we have a receiver that's continuing to make play after play I'm pretty sure they're going to keep getting the ball. [Offensive coordinator] Marty [Mornhinweg] is a smart guy, he knows how to put his players in the right position to make plays, so at the end of the day, if I continue to play like I've been playing, they're going to keep handing the ball off to me."

As for his injured knee, Johnson told NFL.com he's not quite 100 percent, but that he's close.

"In the 90s," he said.