Every time he suffers a tweak, a strain or a pull, Andre Johnson’s going to hear the same questions now.
He turned 31 on July 11, and is coming off a year filled with leg issues. The receiver is a key piece of Houston’s offense, so while we don’t want to overreact to him leaving practice Sunday with what was termed a not-serious groin injury, it starts the whole cycle of questions again.
I asked them back in May when we learned of a knee injury Johnson suffered during the season that didn’t get revealed and didn’t quiet down, prompting a scope.
Will he face other situations this fall that make us consider if he’s starting to break down?
Or will he rebound to show three different injuries in his ninth season amounted to a blip?
It’s hard to factor this one into that equation unless it turns into a bigger deal than coach Gary Kubiak indicated when he said “I don't think we're staring at anything significant."
Sit Johnson down as long as you need to prevent the chance of anything lingering and nagging. Continue to cross your fingers that his legs are listening to the way he’s talking about not feeling old.
And continue to hope at least one of the team's young receivers -- Lestar Jean, Keshawn Martin or DeVier Posey -- really emerges to make the Texans less Johnson-reliant should something more happen to him.
