By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

The number on the backside of Chris Johnson is abnormally small. In fact, if the number was on his jersey, it would be a violation of league rules.

But while everything is fine with Johnson’s No. 37 Rams’ jersey, the 4.18 tattooed on the back of his calves indicate a whole different way of identifying Johnson. 

It wasn’t so long ago that that number had value beyond Johnson’s expectations. It was his 40-yard dash time. The time used, whether fairly or not, to measure a rookie’s speed on a football field. 

As a defensive back at Louisville, Johnson ran the 40-yard dash in that precise time. He estimates that about half of the NFL scouts and coaches in attendance clocked him in that time while the rest clocked him in a more pedestrian 4.22 seconds.

For those who don’t know, those numbers aren’t just good for an NFL player, they’re good for a world-class sprinter.

“To me, it’s a blessing,” Johnson said. “A lot of people, they’re not really blessed to be that fast so it’s something that stuck with me.”

It is that kind of speed that made Johnson a valued commodity for the Rams when they began to shop former first-round choice Robert Thomas. Johnson said he was surprised that he was traded for a first rounder, but said it also made him feel good.

Johnson’s surprise generally comes from the fact that he was highly thought of even though he has yet to play in an NFL game in his two seasons in the league. Of course, injuries were the cause of that absence, but there were plenty of supporters in St. Louis trumpeting the cause of trading for Johnson and his athletic ability.

At the top of that list is free safety Michael Hawthorne, who spent the past two seasons mentoring Johnson. 

“I don’t know anybody that runs 4.18, besides him,” Hawthorne said. “People tend to gravitate towards those that can shell out information. That would be the wise youngster and the wise old guy, so to speak. I had him around a lot. I consider that guy my little brother. I took him under my wing.”

Also pushing to add Johnson was defensive backs coach Kurt Schottenheimer, who coached Johnson with the Packers.

Schottenheimer told coach Mike Martz about Johnson’s physical skills and made a good enough case that St. Louis agreed to the trade Saturday night.

“In this situation, we solely relied on Kurt’s opinion of him,” Martz said. “Obviously he coached him. He had great things to say about him, thought he had terrific potential, had some injury issues that we are hoping and think are cleared up at this point. He’s still rough around the edges, but he’s a competitive guy with a lot of ability that we think in short order can contribute for us.”

Johnson enters a situation that presents plenty of opportunity for a guy in search of his first NFL playing time. Martz said Saturday that he would like to find some more depth out of his defensive backs and Johnson could compete with Corey Ivy, Terry Fair and Ronald Bartell for a nickelback job or, perhaps, more.

LONG SHOT: Linebacker Drew Wahlroos could have had some tense moments in the days leading up to the final cut, but he was actually somewhat relaxed as the deadline for cuts approached.

“I had done all I could do,” Wahlroos said. “It was out of my hands by then. Obviously you are thinking about it, but there’s not much you can do about it. A lot of decisions are made that you can’t affect.”

Wahlroos made enough of an impression on Martz and linebackers coach Joe Vitt as well as on special teams to land the sixth and final linebacker spot on the roster. After spending the end of the season with St. Louis, Wahlroos knows what his jobs are.

“I think my role on this team is going to be a special teams player,” Wahlroos said. “We have some great linebackers up there but if anyone of them does God forbid go down that’s what my role is too.”

FLU BUG: The outbreak of the flu among players at Rams Park hit running back Marshall Faulk on Monday and he missed the afternoon practice.

“Marshall has got the flu,” Martz said. “He’s the latest one to get it I know half the coaches have had it, a lot of guys in the locker room. That’s one of the reasons I gave them two days off. The doctor kind of recommended we quarantine the team and keep them away from each other for awhile and hopefully they will kill this thing.”

INJURY CHECK: Defensive tackle Ryan Pickett returned to practice Monday afternoon and participated in almost everything.

Martz said he expects Pickett to suit up against the 49ers. The only other injury of note that kept someone out of practice besides Faulk was the neck injury to Fair. Fair’s date of return is uncertain, but he expects it to come sometime soon.