NFL Week 1: Rams’ Trumaine Johnson named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

Trumaine Johnson had himself a ball game against the Indianapolis Colts to help the Los Angeles Rams pickup their first win of the Sean McVay era.

After he was slapped with the franchise tag for the second year in a row by the Los Angeles Rams, Trumaine Johnson was a cornerback on a mission entering the 2017 season to prove he was worthy of a long-term deal from the organization. Sure, being the league’s highest-paid cornerback for the season at just under $17 million certainly has its perks, but there were times when Johnson seemed frustrated over not receiving the heftier contract to be around for the long run.

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At least for Johnson’s first game of the new season against the Indianapolis Colts, the Rams couldn’t have asked for a better performance from their top cornerback. And thanks to his stellar play, Johnson has officially taken home honors of NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 1.

Between scoring the first touchdown of the season for Los Angeles off an interception in the first quarter to recovering a forced fumble later in the game, Johnson wasted no time showing how valuable he can be to this Rams’ defense. And the best part is, this is only the start of what will hopefully turn into a career season for Johnson at cornerback.

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Despite all of the issues surrounding the team choosing not to give him a long-term deal, give the Rams credit for at least using the franchise tag on Johnson to avoid the risk of losing him in free agency. What’s even more exciting when it comes to this defense with Johnson is Los Angeles received the news they’ve been waiting to hear for over a month now that Aaron Donald‘s holdout has officially come to an end, which will only make the unit stronger.