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Does a record-setting running back and arguably the league’s most explosive player deserve a giant raise -- even if he’s heading into just the third season of a five-year contract?

Chris Johnson certainly thinks so and has said so.

The Titans running back hasn’t been part of the team’s offseason workouts this spring and did not join in on the first couple OTA sessions. Johnson said after he topped 2,000 rushing yards in 2009 that he’d stick with working out on his own because it helped produce good results.

Clearly, he’s making a statement by staying away.

The Titans are limited by a rule that allows for only a 30 percent raise from year to year. That’s base salary. It can be circumvented by bonus money, but it would take a huge bonus to make it a fair- market deal. Teams are understandably reluctant to craft a contract with so much guaranteed.

Here’s a recent post from Andrew Brandt that explains the economics.

Johnson got a $7 million bonus when he signed his original deal as the 24th pick in the 2008 draft. His base salary this season will be $550,000.

I spoke with Johnson’s close friend, Jacksonville receiver Mike Sims-Walker, about CJ during the Jaguars’ recent minicamp. The two grew up together in Orlando. They are training together with Tom Shaw, an expert on speed.

“He’s looking pretty good,” Sims-Walker said of Johnson. “We work out together three or four times a week. We go on the road [and] we still work out, like for a whole week. We were working out in Vegas and everything. He’s still getting his work in.”

What’s Johnson’s mood and how focused is he on the contract?

“I don’t think he’s mad, but I wouldn’t say he’s happy,” Sims-Walker said. “He’s taking his time. He hired an agent and he’s letting him handle that. That’s what CJ hired him for, that’s what he’s paying the man for, to make the business decisions that he feels are best with Chris.”

One concern from the Titans' side is how Johnson bounces back from the heavy workload that got him over 2,000 yards last season.

Sims-Walker says Johnson’s already proved what he can do in consecutive seasons with a 1,228-yard effort as a rookie and the 2,006 yards last year.

“How much more does he have to do?” Sims-Walker asked. “We all know this is a production business. You get paid the way you play. ... He well exceeded his contact, we all know. He’s probably one of the lowest-paid starting running backs in the league. He’s just trying to get paid how he plays.”

Sims-Walker overstates one thing there: Other young running backs who are starters drafted in later rounds haven’t produced like Johnson, but aren’t making more than him. That list includes guys like Ray Rice, Matt Forte, Jerome Harrison, Steve Slaton, Jamaal Charles, Ahmad Bradshaw, Shonn Greene and LeSean McCoy.

As for the Titans' remaining 12 OTA dates, Sims-Walker said his guess is that Johnson won’t make any of them.

But his sense is that Johnson will show up for training camp.

“That’s when you get the mandatory fines and all that. I don’t know if he’s taking it that far,” Sims-Walker said. “I think he’ll show up. But hopefully he’ll get to camp with a [new] contract ...

“They can give him a big signing bonus and still deal with 30 percent. He’s worth offensive-player-of-the-year money, that’s the award he won, right? At least he should be the highest-paid running back.”

Posted by ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky

Fresh off a giant rushing day in a loss to Tennessee, Maurice Jones-Drew graciously donated 20 minutes to the AFC South Blog to chat about the latest version edition of ESPN.com’s Power Rankings.

	Fernando Medina-US PRESSWIRE
	Maurice Jones-Drew weighed in with an opinion on every team in the league.

He wound up offering more of a team-by-team commentary on the league than on the rankings, which is just fine with us.

So here is a sampling of his thoughts:

"The Saints and Colts both struggled this week, I just don’t know how long those guys can last with those high-powered offenses. It seems like New Orleans, at least, has to have a shootout every week to win, you know. So I don’t know how long that’s going to last. The Colts survived a scare. So call them the Houdinis, they find a way to win."

"Minnesota I think is one of the best balanced teams with the running game, passing game, great defense and special teams. They’re firing on all cylinders right now."

"Denver at four, I don’t know how long they are going to last with just throwing the ball all the time. You’ve got to have a balanced offense in this league, and to run the ball just 10 times [actually 19] against the Ravens was not good."

"New England’s just sneaky, I haven’t heard too much about them yet. They ranked No. 5, so you all have your eye on them."

"Cincinnati is revived, new heart."

"Pittsburgh, great defense."

"Dallas was like on the bottom half of the league last week or two weeks ago, weren’t they? [They were 19 just two weeks ago, I tell him.] I just remember everyone saying Dallas is horrible, they aren’t going to be any good. Now all of a sudden they are up there. Nineteen two weeks ago, now eight? That’s a question mark how guys can jump up that far, this is not the BCS."

"I like Philadelphia. Donovan McNabb has multiple weapons, defense is playing solid right now. They are an opportunistic team."

"Baltimore is catching their stride right now which is going to be pretty dangerous for some people. They can run, they can throw, they play great defense, their special teams are starting to come on and their head coach is a special teams guy. I like them, I think they are going to be a good team and later on they’ll be higher than 10."

"Atlanta is going to be a team that sneaks up on people to. I think they should be a little bit higher. They lost their last two, but before that they were like No. 6 or something, weren’t they? They were high up there. I just don’t know how teams drop in this week-by-week deal."

"The Packers can’t beat the Vikings. They can’t win their division it seems like."

"Cardinals live by the pass die by the pass. It’s a risky way, but if that’s what you’re going to be, know who you are."

"Texans at 14, oh man. I don’t know…"

Blogger break in: Jones-Drew gets to the security gate of his neighborhood. “Hello,” he says. “Monroe, right?” the woman asks him. “No, Jones-Drew,” he says politely. “I’m sorry,” she says. Then turning back to me on the phone: “That’s crazy, my own neighborhood doesn’t even know me. I tell you what, I’ve still got a long way to go.”

"...Texans, Matt Schaub was struggling and Ryan Moats steps up big for them in that Buffalo Bills game. I have Matt Schaub on my fantasy team and he did not play well for me."

"The Giants were the No. 1 team probably three weeks ago and they lost three now, I guess they are on a skid. Now 15, they will probably be down where they Jaguars are next."

"San Diego? Slow start. They always start slow and they always pick it up towards the middle and the end of the season. So it’s kind of surprising, people have to realize that’s how they play the majority of the time. I think they will be higher."

"I don’t know about the Bears. They’re kind of inconsistent. Matt Forte, he’s on my fantasy team, I’m glad he had a big week against Cleveland. They are just inconsistent. I think now, 16, 17 on down you’re going to get to the teams that are just inconsistent."

"Injuries are what make the Jets so low at 18, to lose Kris Jenkins is a big hit for them on the defensive side. And then you lose Leon Washington, your kickoff returner and your backup running back, one of the most explosive guys in the league. That’s tough."

"I think the 49ers are catching their stride. They played Houston tough and almost beat Houston, they came back on them. They played Indy incredibly tough with the Joseph Addai touchdown. Whenever you can hold Peyton Manning with no touchdowns, it’s real big."

"Miami, I think they are undefeated in divisional play, right? You win your division you get to the playoffs. They are the head of their division but that can beat anyone else. Divisional bullies?"

"Jaguars at 21? That’s bull. We should be No. 1. [I chime in that I understand why he says so, but he knows how it sounds to people, right?] "If I didn’t say that, it wouldn’t be right. Everyone should say that about themselves. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?"

"Buffalo, injuries. They’d be higher if they didn’t have as many injuries."

"Carolina, give the ball to Steve Smith. Give him the rock, feed him. You have a running game, but no Steve Smith. That’s why they are ranked that low."

"Seattle: listen to Houshmandzadeh."

"Washington, 25th, they’re struggling. What Haynesworth said: When they want to win, they will."

"The Titans beat the Jaguars."

"Oakland: Off the field issues."

"Kansas City: Off the field issues."

"The Lions got their first victory."

"I think St. Louis should be ranked higher than Detroit, they should flip-flop spots 29 and 30. The Rams beat them didn’t they? If two teams are evenly matched like that, usually the team that beat the other one should be right ahead of them."

"Cleveland: internal bleeding. They are firing everybody in Cleveland right now. They just traded Braylon Edwards, now you’re going to fire your GM. Who’s next?"

"Tampa Bay? [Expletive]! I know how they feel, like anything and everything you do isn’t right. You can do all the hard work in the world and it still doesn’t pay off."

"I think you guys did pretty good. Denver I understand they are high up there, they beat New England which was a big win. Other than that, most of their wins were against opponents that aren’t up there. …I obviously think we’re way too low, we beat Houston. I think Houston could be a little bit higher. At 5-3 they are a little tougher than what people think."

"Fantasy-wise, I need Antonio Gates to step up. I need Philip Rivers to throw the ball to Antonio Gates more. We play two quarterbacks, I have Matt Cassel but I hope he does bad [in Jacksonville Sunday]. I might just play one quarterback."

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Nashville sports radio host Willy Daunic is a Football Outsiders kind of guy who likes to play with numbers. Tuesday we talked about what’s ailing the Titans and he brought some interesting stats to the table.

Chris Johnson, who trails Adrian Peterson by 6 yards for the NFL lead through three weeks, has been hitting home runs but also making a lot of outs.

Including his pass receiving, Johnson has 63 touches for the Titans. Of those, 31 have gone for 1 yard, no yards or a loss. Daunic’s thinking: Johnson is like a baseball player with a strong slugging percentage but a batting average that doesn’t match.

I took some of this to ESPN Stats & Information for further review.

According to Alok Pattani of ESPN Stats & Information, Johnson has the second-highest percentage of plays for a loss or no gain in the league among players with at least 20 touches. Johnson has failed to gain yardage 39.6 percent of the time, second only to San Francisco rookie running back Glen Coffee.

Here are the worst 10 in the NFL:

Player Plays for 0 or loss Pct. Glen Coffee 14 40.0 Chris Johnson 21 39.6 Derrick Ward 9 34.6 Donald Brown 10 34.5 Willie Parker 16 30.8 Larry Johnson 16 30.8 Steve Slaton 11 28.9 Frank Gore 11 28.2 DeAngelo Williams 11 26.8 Matt Forte 15 25.4

The Titans are the league’s worst team when it comes to plays for no gain or a loss (not including incompletions and sacks). Click here for a spreadsheet that covers this with tabs for teams and players. Offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger said once in a while Johnson will think home run instead of taking what he can get, but that the problem so far this season has more often been blocking errors.

According to Pattani, Tennessee doesn’t make any progress 21.7 percent of the time, ahead of San Francisco (21.2) and the Jets (18.3). The rest of AFC South for context: Houston fifth at 17.3, Indy 10th at 15.8, Jacksonville 15th at 15.2.

I think unproductive runs or receptions by Johnson lead directly to another big issue for Tennessee: Second down.

According to Elias, the Titans average second down is second-and-8.69 yards, tied for the fourth-highest in the NFL. The rest of AFC South: Colts seventh at 8.55, Jacksonville ninth at 8.45, Houston 16th at 8.17. Click here for spreadsheet that spells out the league on second down.

Second-and-long leads to third-and-long which means tough conversions and difficulty extending drives.

"If you can be second-and-5, you can do everything, you can run," Heimerdinger said. "Second-and-8, I think the first couple weeks I pushed it too much and threw too much. I tried to reverse that last week and it didn't work bad to keep us in manageable situations. If we're second-and-8, when we throw the ball, we've got to catch it, we can't have a drop."

The Titans had a 12-play field goal drive against the Jets, a 99-yard touchdown drive against Houston and a 5-minute, 23-second touchdown drive against the Jets.

They will take all the home runs they can get. But the sort of lengthy, clock-eating drives that are a Jeff Fisher hallmark haven’t been showing up, and that means a team built to hold the ball is averaging 26:33 of possession a game. Only Buffalo and Oakland are worse.

I did this post earlier this month on how runs for a loss don’t necessarily line up as you might expect for good running teams and bad ones.

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Tennessee Titans (13-2) at Indianapolis Colts (11-4), 1 p.m. ET

For much of the year there was speculation that this game would be a mirror image of last season's finale. In 2007, the Titans needed to win to get in and the game meant nothing to the Colts, who didn't play their key people long, if at all.

Indy avoided that role reversal by clinching the top wild-card berth on Dec. 18.

So now the game means nothing for either team.

The Colts are a week away from a playoff opener and will rest up. The Titans have a week off coming up and would like to maintain some rhythm, but aren't going to risk much. Tennessee probably wants to win more, because it would mean the first 14-win season in franchise history.

But look deep on the depth charts to find the guys who will determine the outcome. We're talking Jim Sorgi, Pierre Garcon and Najeh Davenport of the Colts against Vince Young, Chris Henry and Paul Williams.

Kudos to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for his efforts to ensure the schedule offers better games at the end of the season and fewer meaningless contests involving playoff teams. This one had potential for a while, but unfortunately qualifies as a miss.

The biggest win for either side? No one gets hurt.

Jacksonville Jaguars (5-10) at Baltimore Ravens (10-5), 4:15 ET

The Jaguars have played better the past two weeks, which has many feeling they could be poised to be a spoiler for the Ravens -- who need a win to get the final AFC playoff berth.

Here's why Baltimore can be confident: While the Ravens have lost all five games they've played against playoff teams, they're undefeated against teams who aren't playing in January. And the Jaguars were eliminated weeks ago.

Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew has a knee injury but practiced Friday and is probable. He's topped 100 yards only twice this season, and the Ravens haven't allowed a back to go over 100 in 34 consecutive games. He's more likely to hurt the Ravens as a receiver - he's got 61 receptions for 555 yards.

With Matt Jones suspended, the Jaguars have turned to Dennis Northcutt as a target and in two games with the bigger role, he has 13 catches for 228 yards with two touchdowns.

Chicago Bears (9-6) at Houston Texans (7-8), 1 p.m. ET

It was a big development for this game Friday when the Bears placed safety Mike Brown on injured reserve. Replacement Craig Steltz won't be as helpful for Chicago as it tries to slow down the Matt Schaub-to-Andre Johnson connection.

Johnson's numbers at Reliant Stadium are spectacular: a 134.4 yard average with five games over 100 yards. But don't sleep on Kevin Walter - if the receiver who plays opposite Johnson catches a touchdown pass, he'll break Johnson's franchise record of eight.

The Texans have heard a lot about how they've been good at winning games that don't mean anything. They could score some respect, claim progress and get a big gift basket from the Vikings if they step it up here and do well as a spoiler against the Bears.

Steve Slaton went against fellow rookie running back Chris Johnson twice in matchups with the Titans. Now he's in another matchup against a successful rookie back in the Bears' Matt Forte, who's the lone rookie in the league to lead his team in rushing (1,188 yards), receptions (60) and touchdowns (12).

Click here to access the NFL Pick Center, a service for ESPN Insiders where fans can view two different simulation models for every NFL game.

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Merry Christmas Eve. AFC South headlines to go with cookies and milk... 

Houston Texans

The Texans want to avoid a losing season, says John McClain.

Steve Slaton and Matt Forte make for quite a rookie running back matchup, writes McClain.

Andre Johnson is looking for a big finish, according to McClain.

Indianapolis Colts

Clint Session is making a mark, says Phillip B. Wilson.

Jim Sorgi hopes to play well in front of his young son, writes Mike Chappell.

Bill Polian's weekly radio show transcribed by colts.com.

Jacksonville Jaguars

James Harris leaves as Jacksonville's GM. Vito Stellino gives us details.

Gene Frenette says the Jaguars' busts forced this departure.

A Q&A with Gerald Sensabaugh.

Players were sad about the news regarding Harris, says Stellino.

Cole Pepper said the Harris move had to happen.

Tennessee Titans

The Titans are deciding who should play and how much, writes Terry McCormick.

Five things Jim Wyatt knows heading into Titans-Colts.

Michael Silver says the Titans prove draft grades are bogus.

Ex-Titan Derrick Mason is playing through pain, says Dave Ginsburg.

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Tennessee Titans (8-0) at Chicago Bears (5-3), 1 p.m. ET

Chris Johnson and Matt Forte are off to excellent starts, and their meeting Sunday is the first between such effective rookies in 43 years.

Johnson and Forte are the only rookie running backs who enter Week 10 among the top 10 backs in the league in rushing yards. Only twice before in history have rookie running backs ranked in the top 10 in rushing with at least 600 yards apiece squared off:

• Dec. 12, 1965: Chicago's Gale Sayers (672) vs. San Francisco's Ken Willard (745)
• Dec. 21, 1969: Washington's Larry Brown (827) vs. Dallas' Calvin Hill (869)
  

Both those games were won by the team with the back who entered the game with more yards. Entering the game, Johnson has 715 yards to Forte's 641.

The forecast calls for rain and snow, and both teams' preference would be to grind it out. The Titans have yielded some sizable gains to running backs in recent weeks.

Jacksonville Jaguars (3-5) at Detroit Lions (0-8), 1 p.m. ET

After a week of drama featuring a conflict between Jack Del Rio and linebacker Mike Peterson and some changes in the locker room intended to improve the team's focus, can the Jaguars get things back together?

Coming off a loss to previously winless Cincinnati, a loss to winless Detroit would make it difficult for Del Rio to hold the team together moving forward.

With the new-to-the-team Daunte Culpepper (Dan Orlovsky is injured and will not play) quarterbacking the Lions, might this be a game where Jacksonville can afford to take an occasional risk in coverage in order to send some blitzes? It would seem the Jaguars could make things a lot easier on themselves by rattling the quarterback early, but if Jacksonville doesn't get to him quickly, such an approach increases the risk of a big play from Calvin Johnson. And the first thing the Jaguars' defensive coaches probably said when they sat down to sketch out the game plan was, "We can't let Johnson beat us."

Matt Jones is averaging 11.6 yards a catch. For some reason, I picture him getting some yards after the catch in this one.

Indianapolis Colts (4-4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2), 4:15 p.m. ET

It's hard to imagine sacks not being the story of this game.

Pittsburgh's defense is second in sacks per pass, but its offense is 31st in the same category.

Peyton Manning hasn't been sacked in his last three games and is going to get rid of the ball quickly, but the Steelers can certainly make things very difficult for him.

The question will be whether the Colts quick pass-rushers will be able to take advantage of a porous offensive line and get to the injured Ben Roethlisberger or his replacement, Byron Leftwich. Indianapolis has gone three games without a quarterback takedown.

The Colts have lost 12 straight games at Pittsburgh -- the third-longest active road losing streak in the league. That number gets a lot of attention but means nothing to the group with horseshoes on their helmets that will take the field Sunday.

Only nine current players were on the most recent team that lost at Pittsburgh (2002).

Baltimore Ravens (5-3) at Houston Texans (3-5), 1 p.m. ET

Opposing quarterbacks have posted a 97.2 passer rating against the Texans this year, with a 65.1 percent completion percentage, 8.09 yards per attempt, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and 14 sacks.

To beat Baltimore, Houston has to fare better. But rookie Joe Flacco has led the Ravens to three consecutive wins while completing 60.5 percent of his passes for 620 yards with four touchdowns, no picks, four sacks and a 104.1 passer rating.

Defensive end Mario Williams is averaging a sack a game, and it's hard for offenses to predict where he might line up as he flips from one side to the other. The Texans hope he'll be able to beat left tackle Jared Gaither and right tackle Adam Terry.

A pounding or two from Williams could prompt Flacco to play more like he did in his first five games, when he absorbed 10 sacks, threw seven picks and fumbled five times.

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

	David Stluka/Getty Images
	Minnesota's Adrian Peterson ripped the Colts for 160 yards rushing in Week 2.

Yesterday we looked at the Colts' struggles running the ball, but that's only half their problem concerning the ground game.

They've faced two power running attacks so far and came out of games against Chicago and Minnesota with the a run defense ranked 28th, ahead of only Houston, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Detroit. That's not exactly a bunch you want to hang around with in any category.

Indy cannot continue to give up 181.5 ground yards a game and survive. Now they are without strong safety Bob Sanders for four to six weeks with a high ankle sprain and maybe knee surgery.

The Colts have shown that even when they play their best defense, they will give up rush yards. They gave up 98.3 a game last year when they had the league's third-best yardage defense and No. 1 scoring defense.

The Colts facilitated a short Q&A for me this week with middle linebacker Gary Brackett about the run defense.

When the offense isn't running it well, does that put even more responsibility on the defense to stop the run?

Gary Brackett: "I think it does. Obviously, stopping the run gets them off the field on third down and gives us the ability to get our offense the ball back. I think it's more of our offense not having the ball enough to figure out what the defense is doing. So, we can help those guys out by getting off the field on third down."

How crucial is it that you aren't the team that Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew get it going against?

GB: "It's extremely crucial. Obviously, we want our offense to have as many chances as possible, and we want to start playing better run defense. Later on in the year, that's really going to be huge for us, how we stop the run, so we just want to get that started and get that trend started of us playing good defense and being solid in our run defense."

What's been the primary problem in run stopping so far?

GB: "I think just the big plays, a big play here and there. Obviously the long run [Matt] Forte had the first week, some of the long runs Adrian Peterson had last week, I think three of them, if you eliminate those plays, I think our run defense has been pretty stout. So, we just have to eliminate the big plays and I think that will take care of everything else."

It's common for run defenses to talk in such a fashion about the big plays, but those are the ones that kill the per-game average and tend to swing games. Just about any team failing in run defense can say the same thing.

The Colts have given up six runs of 10 yards or more, including Forte's 50-yard touchdown and Peterson's 29-yard run on his first carry of the game.

Jones-Drew has a big history against Indianapolis, with 200 all-purpose yards in three of his four games against the Colts. He's run for a 7.2-yard average against them, scoing four touchdowns on the ground and five total.