BEREA, Ohio -- Duke Johnson, frustrated by his lack of chances all season, got a pep talk Thursday morning from someone who has it even worse than him, and it helped him put things in perspective.

He sat down with quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who was benched in favor of Baker Mayfield in Week 3 and is now the backup QB.

"He told me to just be more positive,'' Johnson told cleveland.com. "Just focus on all the good. It's not all bad. It's not all good. You're going to have some days when you're not feeling so well. Just find a way to get through it.''

Despite the fact Taylor lost his job when he suffered a concussion against the Jets, he helped Johnson get his mind right. Taylor, who paid for teammates to travel for offseason workouts and was supposed to start much of the season, has kept a low profile since his benching, and hasn't complained.

"He's going through things himself, but you're still able to lean on him, you're still able to talk to him,'' said Johnson. "He's very positive, he's a very good dude. It's his beliefs. It's what he believes in and I got a glimpse of that today just talking to him. Regardless, he's still our captain."

Taylor's talk had an immediate impact. "I just had a more positive practice today because I talked to him,'' said Johnson, who admitted he was getting down by how his season was going.

"It could be frustrating but it wasn't over the top,'' he said. "Just trying to figure it out.''

Last season, Johnson earned Browns Player of the Year honors from the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America. He led the team with 74 catches for 693 yards with three TD passes. He also rushed 82 times for 348 yards and four TDs.

After five games last season, he had 23 catches for 270 yards and a TD. This year, he has 10 for 91 yards. At his current clip, he'll finish with 32 catches for 291 yards, and 55 rushes for 240 yards.

"I don't think these games have to be as hard as they are,'' Johnson said. "I think I can help this team win given more opportunities.''

Coach Hue Jackson has consistently advocated for more touches for Johnson. In 2016, he finished third on the team with 53 catches for 514 yards. Jackson indicated he could be used more with Rashard Higgins (sprained MCL) out for 2-4 weeks.

"Duke's skillset allows us to do a lot of different things with him,'' he said. "We split him out a little bit this past week, and I'm sure we will do other things with him as we go. Duke is very talented. Obviously, when he has the ball in his hands, good things happen.''

Johnson, who apparently hasn't equally impressed offensive coordinator Todd Haley, said his primary job recently has been that of a blocker.

"I had a bad first week of blocking, I wouldn't call it bad, but it wasn't up to my standards,'' he said. "In these last three or four weeks I've been blocking more than I've blocked since I've been in the NFL and I'm taking pride in it. I'm having fun doing it because it gives Baker (Mayfield) and our team a chance to win.''

Haley, who played Johnson 51 percent of the snaps last week after he averaged in the mid-30s the previous three weeks, said he's been trying to get Johnson more touches.

"You want all of your players involved,'' he said. "At running back, sometimes that's a little tougher than others. You can't just run him out there. We've been heavy pass with him in there. We have to make sure that we 're running the ball with him and throwing it to him. At the same time, we are trying to get Nick Chubb carries.

"He had a little bad luck in there in his opportunities, but when you open the game with Carlos (Hyde) running into the teeth of the defense for 10-11 yards, that gets you excited, too.''

He said "it's a good problem, and it's all part of the recipe for being a real good offense. Duke, I think he played more plays than normal. We were in third down a bunch and two-minute, and at the end of the game two-minute, we had a lot of situations that got him in there, but I thought he made the most of his opportunities.''

Johnson, who had one catch for seven yards against the Ravens and five carries for 35 yards, did come through in a big way in the 12-9 overtime victory, rushing for 15, five and four yards to set up Greg Joseph's 37-yard gamewinning field goal.

With Higgins going down in that game and the Browns not signing veteran Rishard Matthews, Johnson thought he might be called upon this week to play more receiver. So far, he hasn't been told that's the case.

He said he hasn't marched in to Haley and complained.

"I've just never been a big fan of going up to coaches and demanding the ball,'' he said. "I've always been the type of guy to let my performance show and my history of making plays do all the talking and at the end of the day it's up to you how much I get the ball if I even get the ball. I'm always going to let my work do the talking.''

Johnson said if Haley "comes to me and say he needs me, 'yes, coach, I've got you.' Other than that I just don't like to feel like I'm trying to do your job. Because it's your job as special teams (coordinator), offensive coordinator, I don't want them to feel like I'm crossing nobody's boundaries.''

Likewise, he hasn't volunteered to return punts even though the Browns are struggling in that area.

"My one job is to whatever they need from me, whatever they ask of me,'' he said. "I never returned a punt return in my life until I did it here. High school don't count because it's backyard football. My first time doing it was here because they asked me to. They needed me to do it. I would do it again if they wanted me to."

Johnson, who signed a three-year extension in the offseason worth $15.6 million, was hoping to build on his big 2017 season.

"You've got to have a lot of hope,'' he said.

Because of Taylor, he has a little more today.