CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — It’s been an arduous journey back for Max Johnson.
In last year’s season opener, the North Carolina quarterback suffered a gruesome injury in Minnesota, breaking his right femur.
Five surgeries followed.
“I knew it was pretty serious as soon as it happened,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t tell if it was my knee or my femur or my leg. I remember getting up and putting my shoulders around the trainers who were carrying me off the field. As soon as I got picked up, my leg kind of slipped out. I kind of felt it dangling. Right then and there I knew it was my femur.
“There was a point in time where I thought I was going to lose my leg.”
However, 11 months and quite a bit of rehab later, Johnson has been fully cleared. With Bill Belichick now at the helm, the senior will compete for the starting job with sophomore transfer Gio Lopez and freshman Bryce Baker at fall camp.
“I’ve talked with Coach Belichick, (offensive coordinator Freddie) Kitchens. The best man is going to play,” Johnson said after Saturday’s practice. “Whoever that is, I know Coach Belichick is going to make the best decision. I’m just blessed to be here, to be able to compete. It just feels good to be able to do it again.”
Earlier in the day, Belichick made it clear that the competition is wide open. It’s anybody’s job. One of the quarterbacks needs to seize the opportunity.
“Whoever earns it is going to be who gets it. That’s the bottom line,” Belichick said. “Nobody is entitled to it. Nobody has been given anything. The player who plays the best and earns that playing time will get it. I don’t know who that’s going to be. That’ll be up to them.
“It certainly would be good to have that done before the first game, maybe even two weeks before the first game. The sooner the better. But it’s better to make the right decision than a quick decision. So that’s what we’ll try to do, but that’s one of the key questions we have to answer.”
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