LONDON -- A month ago, Josh Johnson couldn’t get on the field. On Sunday, he made the biggest defensive play of the Jacksonville Jaguars' season.
The first-year cornerback from Purdue broke up Andrew Luck's fourth-down pass to tight end Dwayne Allen with 1:36 to play, which gave the Jaguars a 30-27 victory over Indianapolis at Wembley Stadium. It was just the third NFL game for a player who had spent the past two seasons in the Canadian Football League.
“Coach Wash [defensive coordinator Todd Wash] called man-on-man coverage, and he trusted our DBs a lot,” Johnson said. “We had great pass rush the whole game, and it was just all about competing. Basically I just went down there and played my keys. I saw him run an under route and I just chased it, and Andrew threw it and I just made the play.”
The Colts had roared back from a 23-6 deficit with three fourth-quarter touchdowns and needed only another 20 yards to give Adam Vinatieri a comfortable chance at a game-tying field goal. On fourth-and-1 from the Jaguars’ 49-yard line, Luck tried to hit Allen on a shallow crossing pattern.
Johnson closed and knocked the ball from Allen’s grasp.
“As soon as I saw him throw the ball, I reached my hand in and I raked it out,” Johnson said. “I just saw the ball get on the ground and I just saw all my teammates coming, giving me the praises. It felt amazing.”
It was a pretty quick rise for a guy who had to fight to make the roster. Johnson was signed as an undrafted free agent by San Diego in 2013 but didn’t make it past the final cut. He played in 24 games and had 100 tackles, three interceptions, and three pass breakups for the CFL’s BC Lions in 2014-15. The Jaguars signed him in February.
With cornerback Aaron Colvin serving a four-game suspension to start the season because of a violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy, there was going to be an open roster spot for the first month. Johnson won it by having a productive preseason, picking off two passes and returning one for a 79-yard touchdown.
He wasn’t active for the season opener against Green Bay. He played only special teams in Week 2 against San Diego and played special teams and got two snaps at cornerback against Baltimore in Week 3. Johnson was the Jaguars’ nickel back against the Colts over Dwayne Gratz, who had made a critical mistake in coverage that led to a touchdown against the Chargers.
Johnson made his share of mistakes against the Colts, but he came through in the final two minutes.
“That play that Josh made was unbelievable,” defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks said. “By the time I saw the ball thrown, I turned to run and I saw it. I mean, he just got his fingertips on the ball. Huge play.”
Johnson, who also teamed up with linebacker Paul Posluszny on a sack earlier in the game, likely will keep his roster spot when Colvin returns next week. That would mean Gratz, the team’s third-round pick in 2013, would be the odd man out.
“We’ll look at it, and there’s some things he [Johnson] could have done differently, but he made a play when it counted,” coach Gus Bradley said.