ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- He missed practices last season as a way to try and preserve himself, as a way to make sure that when things mattered on Sundays, he would be able to participate with the rest of the Detroit Lions. Calvin Johnson, though, would rather not watch practices from the sidelines. Not during training camp, and not during the regular season, either. So he said even though he’s healthy now, there’s no plan that he knows of to rest him during game weeks. “We’re going to do what coach wants us to do, but a lot of that was due to some injuries, you know,” Johnson said Tuesday. “So really, I’d really prefer to be out here and practicing and getting the timing down.” That hasn’t been an issue for Johnson so far this preseason. While he only played in one game -- Week 3 against Jacksonville -- he participated in almost every practice and often made the play of the practice. He continued that into the first game week, evidenced by the image of him grabbing a towel midway through his eight-minute media chat to wipe off his face. He even joked before he started talking he didn’t want to move too much to make sure sweat didn’t flop around on any reporters. That Johnson is working as hard as he typically does is no surprise, though. Not when his stated goal -- even when asked about individual accomplishments -- always goes back to wanting to finally win. Obviously a healthy Calvin Johnson adds greatly to the Lions' chances of that. “Body feels good. It actually felt great to get out there a couple weeks ago and get some work in,” Johnson said. “Got a good little couple drives in. But body feels good, felt good today and got some good work out here. Pushing each other. We’re receivers so we run a lot. We’ll be in shape.”
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