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NFL rushing leader Larry Johnson is on track to break one of the league's most punishing records, a fact Kansas City coach Herm Edwards insists does not concern him one bit.
"I'm not going to wear him out," Edwards said Friday, with a hint of impatience that the issue would even be raised. "That's what good runners want. They want the ball. Larry made the statement earlier in the season he doesn't get warmed up until after about 25 carries. You ask for something, and you get it."
With 34 carries Thursday night in the Chiefs' 19-10 victory over Denver's hard-hitting defense, Johnson raised his yardage total to 1,202 on 282 carries.
That's an average of almost 26 carries a game, which projects over a 16-game season to about 410 -- the record Jamal Anderson set in 1998 when he piled up 1,846 yards in leading Atlanta to the Super Bowl.
That's a lot of bumps and bruises, even for a strong and well conditioned young man who just turned 27.
"I'm not worried about Larry. Larry's fine," Edwards said. "He wants the ball that many times. It's not like he's walking around here saying, `I'm carrying the ball too much."'
In his last six games, while the Chiefs (7-4) went 5-1 and vaulted into the AFC playoff picture, Johnson has been practically a one-man attack with 184 touches for a total of 920 yards and 11 touchdowns. He's rushed in that span for 845 yards.
But piling up spectacular yardage is becoming a habit with the first-round pick out of Penn State. Given the starting job last year when Priest Holmes went down with nine games to go, Johnson wound up with a team-record record 1,750 yards on the ground.
"When you're having fun, you don't take a look at how many carries you have," Johnson said after the Denver game. "You just go out there and try to compete as hard as you can and put your team in a position to win."
Nevertheless, it will be good to get a few days rest. The Chiefs do not play again until they go to Cleveland on Dec. 3.
"I'm looking forward to it and then getting back and playing the next couple of opponents and hopefully lock up a playoff berth and get to the Super Bowl," Johnson said
At 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, Johnson is a rare combination of strength and elusiveness. He's learned in his fourth season to be patient and look for holes. Unlike his first couple of years, when he seemed to be running with an angry snarl and almost inviting contact, he's begun to use shiftiness and change-of-direction to avoid those teeth-jarring tackles.
"He's allowed himself to show people that he's not just a power runner, that he has cutback ability and he can make you miss in space," Edwards said. "He did that last night on a couple of runs.
"He's a big, powerful runner, (but) he's not just using his power game. He's making guys miss. That has a lot to do with it, too, if you're a power guy and you keep running, running, running and you're always getting hit.
"He's not getting hit hard every time he gets the football."
The Chiefs also got 56 yards Thursday night on only two carries from backup Michael Bennett, who presents a good change-of-pace while giving Johnson time to catch his breath.
Altogether, the Chiefs rushed for 223 yards against a Broncos defense that had been allowing only about 90 yards per game.
"When you're running and you're making almost 5 yards a run, why wouldn't you continue to run? Why would I sit there and say I've got to throw passes?" Edwards said.
"I'll throw passes when it's time to throw passes. But if I can run the ball for 5 yards a crack, which basically we were getting last night, why wouldn't you continue to run? Because I'm worried about Larry carrying the ball 30 times?"
Edwards said defensive tackle James Reed had the only significant injury Thursday night. Reed sustained a groin injury and could miss some time.
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