CHAPEL HILL – Max Johnson is getting closer to full competition, but he isn’t there quite yet.
North Carolina Football Coach Bill Belichick said Tuesday during a summer press conference that Johnson is grinding his way back but isn’t at fully health enough to enter competition for the starting quarterback job with the Tar Heels.
Johnson was lost for last the season after suffering a horrific broken leg with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter of the Tar Heels’ season opening win at Minnesota. Initially, sources inside the UNC program questioned whether Johnson could ever play football again.
He remained in a Minneapolis hospital for two weeks and had six surgeries before being released and returning to Chapel Hill. Since, the rehab process has been grueling with very little information on his progress. Belichick didn’t outline any definitives Tuesday but offered some optimism.
“So, Max is doing very well,” the first-year Carolina coach said inside the Kenan Football Center. “His rehab has been long and I have a lot of admiration for him. I mean it was a tough injury but nobody’s worked harder than he has. He certainly is able to do a lot more than he was last spring.
“We’ll see exactly where he is when things start. But it’s a whole lot closer and we certainly expect to see him out there. So, it’s been very encouraging.”
Johnson has released multiple videos on social media over the last few months showing him working out. The most recent one a few weeks ago was the most complete. He was doing plenty of drills moving laterally and throwing the ball some on the run.
What makes the clips noteworthy is that Johnson did not do any of that in the April 12 practice the media was allowed to watch. He threw some but did little else.
Belichick approaches player injuries the same regardless of the player or degree of the injury. Long-term time tables aren’t as important as consistent progression.
“All injuries are kind of the same like that,” he said in March, when asked if there was a time table for Johnson’s return. “If a player can progress, we’ll progress him. If he hits a little bit of a stalemate, work through that then then when he’s ready to go again then we’ll go again and move to higher ground.”
Belichick also praised Johnson’s grind during spring practice, and perhaps an indication the coaching staff is confident the veteran lefthander will be fully cleared by August is they only brought in one quarterback from the portal, which came after Ryan Browne transferred back to Purdue in April.
Junior Gil Lopez transferred in from South Alabama and is the presumed starter, at least for now. Belichick identified on Tuesday what they like about Lopez, but in no way did the six-time Super Bowl winning head coach say the job is his.
As for Johnson, he is 6-foot-5 and brings the most experience to the room when healthy. He spent two seasons at LSU and the last two at Texas A&M. At 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, he played in 30 games before arriving at UNC, starting 22 times, and is 474-for-784 with 5,853 yards, 47 touchdowns, and just 12 interceptions.
In the win at Minnesota, Johnson was 12-for-19 with 71 yards before suffering the injury.
UNC opens the season September 1 at home against TCU and will begin practice in very early August.
