KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nazeeh Johnson was rehabbing after knee surgery this time a year ago, but Sunday he made his first career NFL start for the Kansas City Chiefs at the Las Vegas Raiders.
Johnson, who converted from safety to corner after college, got the start in place of Jaylen Watson, who won a training camp battle for the starting job that opened when L’Jarius Sneed was traded during the offseason.
Unfortunately, he was knocked from the game on the defense’s second drive — Johnson got crunched while tackling Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers.
Johnson, who was replaced by Joshua Williams, entered the concussion protocol after exiting the field on his own power. The team announced he had been ruled out at halftime.
Watson beat out Johnson and Williams for the starting job opposite Trent McDuffie in the preseason, but he went on injured reserve after exiting last week’s win in San Francisco with a broken ankle.
That made Johnson the next man up.
Las Vegas seemed to make a point of testing Johnson on the offense’s first drive, running his way on multiple occasions in the red zone.
Johnson shed a block by Gardner Minshew on a double reverse and, while falling backward, helped tackle Tre Turner.
On the next play, Alexander Mattison met Johnson on the left edge behind the line of scrimmage and bowled him over for a 3-yard pickup and a first down.
Moving to the defense’s right side, the Raiders ran at Johnson for a third consecutive play, but he stopped Zamir White on the edge for a 2-yard gain.
He largely passed those first-drive tests but went to the sideline just as he could settle in, finishing with a career-high five tackles.
Incredibly, Kansas City picked all four of those corners — McDuffie (first round, No. 21 overall), Williams (fourth, No. 135), Watson (seventh, No. 243) and Johnson (seventh, No. 259) — in the 2022 NFL Draft.
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