JOE POSNANSKI COMMENTARY

It’s time for LJ to take off his diapers

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Truth is, Johnson has been acting like this all season. He had that bizarre rap-song episode where he may or may not have said “bleep Carl Peterson,” (if it wasn’t him, there are only about 1.96 million suspects in the greater Kansas City area). Johnson threw the ball to the ground against Minnesota because he didn’t like the play calling. He publicly called out his coaches with his own version of the Nixon Checkers speech, (“It’s not a chess game,” he said. “It’s checkers. When they’re looking for the run, you pass. When they’re looking to pass, you run.”)

In other words, LJ has been a pain in the neck all season. And it’s one thing to act the superstar when you are playing like a superstar. Johnson isn’t. His numbers are way down (3.5 yards per carry says a lot), and while it’s easy to say that’s entirely because of a struggling offensive line or play calling, it also seems to me that Johnson is not running the same. He’s dancing around, waiting around, looking around for the big run rather than just putting his head down and blasting through.

Things are different for LJ now. He signed a big-money contract in the offseason, and his status changed along with his tax bracket. He’s a star now. He’s a leader, like it or not. He’s a guy everyone on the team studies. He’s a top pick in all the fantasy leagues. He’s the jersey fans buy. Everybody’s watching. He’s hurting himself by pouting over his numbers or whining over play calls or storming out after huge victories.

As one Chiefs insider says: “Larry needs to be very careful now. People don’t want to hear him complaining. People want to see him performing.”

Personally, I think he will perform. He just needs a little help. People forget that Johnson started slow last year, too. He had back-to-back weeks against Pittsburgh and Arizona where he had 62 yards — combined.

That’s when I wrote the first annual, “Let’s get LJ angry” column. He ran for 132 yards that Sunday, 155 yards the next week, 172 yards the week after. I’m not saying that it was because of the column. No, I’m just saying, “Hey, LJ, take off the diapers, pal.”

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To reach Joe Posnanski, call 816-234-4361 or send e-mail to jposnanski@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.