Chris Johnson Injury Update: How Is Titans Star's Hamstring?

The good news for the Tennessee Titans is that star running back Chris Johnson scored his first touchdown of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

The bad news is that Johnson was hobbled by an injury late in the game, which rendered him unable to play. The Titans ended up losing 38-17.

Despite the loss, the Titans are still sitting strong at 3-2 on the season. But as they get deeper and deeper into the season, they are going to need Johnson. The question now is how badly he is hurt.

Injury Update

The answer to that question is that Johnson is not hurt all that badly. Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean reported on Johnson's status shortly after the game ended:

Because the Titans were pretty well out of the game in the fourth quarter, I think it's safe to assume the Titans were just playing it safe with Johnson. There was no point for them to risk further injury, especially when you consider it was Johnson's hamstring that was bugging him.

When's He Ready to Return?

The Titans have a bye in Week 6, so I'm going to go ahead and presume that Johnson is going to be good to go when the Titans take on the Houston Texans in Week 7. He'll have plenty of time to rest and to heal.

Fantasy Impact

At this point, Johnson is more of a fringe running back than a star running back, but he's not the kind of guy you want to risk taking out of your lineup. Consider him a safe, high-ceiling play when the Titans return in Week 7.

What They're Saying

There wasn't much talk of Johnson's injury at the time the story was developing, but the Twitterverse did delight in making a few jokes about Johnson's first touchdown of the season.

One of the best came from CBS Sports' Will Brinson:

Yup, that's the kind of season it's been for Johnson.