Defensive lineman Micah Johnson during a Saskatchewan Roughriders training-camp practice on July 13, 2021. (Saskatchewan Roughriders)

By Britton Gray/ CJME News

From the field to the ring, Micah Johnson happy to be back in Sask.

Jul 16, 2021 | 12:40 PM

When the bell tolled on the 2020 CFL season for Micah Johnson, it also signalled a new round for another of his sporting loves.

The 6-foot-2, 278-pound defensive lineman spent the pandemic in the boxing ring and practising Muay Thai.

“Boxing has always been something that I’ve done and dabbled in, it’s just that football has always took precedence so you’ve got to start doing things for football at some point,” Johnson said after the Saskatchewan Roughriders held a training-camp practice at Mosaic Stadium. “It’s always been there and I’ve had a love for it.

“I went and got my boxing licence, I was sparring — I was doing the whole thing.”

Johnson thinks the extra time in the ring helped him get ready to enter the CFL trenches once again.

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“It’s one of the few things that replicates D-line, that grappling and that kind of combat. There’s not much you can do conditioning-wise to replicate that for a D-lineman — just the constant moving and the constant hand battling and things like that.”

But instead of dropping people with a combination of punches, the Riders are hoping the 33-year-old Johnson can continue to drop quarterbacks.

The lineman had signed with the B.C. Lions for the 2020 CFL season after spending 2019 with the Riders. The 2020 season was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, Johnson said his situation was different.

He said he and his then-pregnant wife went to visit family in Tallahassee, Fla., but then COVID hit and they were stuck there instead of being able to move home to Virginia.

“I’ve never lived there before. I never had that much familiarity. But since February 2019, we’ve been in Tallahassee and kind of made it home,” Johnson said.

“It was a whirlwind and just trying to train and stay in it mentally and I think the hardest was kind of just not knowing (if there would be a season) … I was glad I had my family to lean on (and to) just spend as much time with my kids as I could.

“They enjoyed it. I think everyone in the family enjoyed having us back home.”

Johnson said after some good talks with Roughriders general manager Jeremy O’Day, he decided to come back to the Land of Living Skies.

“We talked and it was a lot of different dialogue. I feel like I didn’t get to give them my best (in 2019),” said Johnson, who recorded just 26 tackles and four sacks in 2019. “I had the high ankle sprain twice and I was just trying to be able to get out there and give it what I could but I couldn’t get out there and work out throughout the week.

“I was talking to (O’Day) and (head coach Craig Dickenson) and I thought they didn’t get the best Micah they could get. I’m just real excited to get out there and give the Sask. fans the best Micah.”

Johnson is also going to need to step into a leadership void left behind by the departure of defensive end Charleston Hughes, who signed with the Toronto Argonauts.

Johnson said in 2019, being the new guy in the locker room, he didn’t want to come in and start talking and instead wanted his play to do the talking.

Now that he’s back and players know him, he says it makes it easier to be a more vocal leader.

“It’s not necessarily a new thing for me, just guys understanding me and know what I stand for, and I think they’ll respect you more versus just coming into the room and expecting guys to respect you and expecting guys to listen to you when they don’t even know you,” Johnson said.

With Hughes gone, the defensive line group will need to find a way to replace one of the CFL’s all-time sack leaders.

“I don’t think you can replace the reaction you get from opponents. A lot of times with Charleston, it was the game-planning and mental aspects from offences that you can’t get. But the production can definitely be replaced,” Johnson said, pointing out defensive end A.C. Leonard and defensive tackle Makana Henry could step up this season.

Staying healthy is going to be pivotal to Johnson’s success. He was held out of the second half of practice Thursday, with Dickenson saying Johnson had some knee issues but it isn’t expected to keep him out of practice.

Notes: Linebacker Deon Lacey was back at practice again. He was in COVID protocol on Tuesday and Wednesday. “I guess it was a mistake with the tests. Just following protocol and everything is OK and everything checked out fine,” Lacey said … Long-snapper Jorgen Hus suffered a dislocated finger. It was put back into place and taped up. Dickenson says Hus may be out for a day … Wide receiver Justin McInnis suffered from back spasms, but he’s not expected to miss time … Defensive back Hamp Cheevers turned an ankle and could be out a few days.