"When he ran for just 24 yards in the season-opener at Jacksonville, you blamed it on a sluggish start and the fact that the Titans were playing catch-up all day.

A 53-yard rushing day against Baltimore's blunt-force defense was more or less expected.

But when Chris Johnson managed only 21 yards on 13 carries last week against Denver, everybody ran out of excuses.

And that includes Johnson.

"Maybe there are times I hesitated a little bit and things like that," he said. "It's a different combination of things."

The convenient explanation is that Johnson is weighed down by his wallet. With that $53.5 million contract extension in hand, is he as driven as before?"