The Tennessee Titans made a surprise move this week when they re-signed defensive lineman Jaleel Johnson, who was critical of the team in now-deleted tweets after he was waived last week.
Earlier in the week, head coach Mike Vrabel revealed the two had a conversation about Johnson’s public showing of frustration and Vrabel said he’s comfortable with the veteran lineman coming back to the team.
On Friday, Johnson admitted it was a mistake and said he apologized to Vrabel and the team for the tweets.
“To be fair, I don’t really think I was thinking; I wasn’t thinking properly,” Johnson said, per John Glennon of Nashville Post. “I just think at the time, a little bit of frustration. But since I’ve been in the league for seven years, I’ve tried to do things in a professional manner. That’s something that I wouldn’t normally do… I talked to coach about it and let him know I apologize, talked to my teammates and coaches, told them I apologize for it.”
Johnson has since made the decision to delete Twitter and said he was surprised the team wanted to bring him back.
“It says a lot about coach; it says that he cares a lot about his guys,” Johnson said, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “We’ve built a bond and I think he knows where I come from and I know where he stands, I know what he expects out of his players and that wasn’t it… I’m thankful that he decided to want to bring me back to compete with these guys. Moving forward now, I’m off Twitter. I think I deleted the app. I’m just thankful to be back and to help these guys win.”
“A little bit,” Johnson said when asked if he was surprised the Titans wanted to bring him back. “When I got the call, it was kind of eye-opening, but I just took the opportunity and I’m going to run with it.”