Vic Fangio Explains Why LB Alexander Johnson Doesn't Have '100%' of his Trust to Call Plays

With Todd Davis out for the next week at least, the onus falls on Alexander Johnson to call the defensive signals.

Denver Broncos' linebacker Alexander Johnson is coming off an impressive first year as a starter. He didn't play like a guy in his first year, or at least, not from the outside looking in. 

From the inside looking out, though, Johnson still has a ways to go in order to become a complete linebacker and earn the perfect trust of his coaches. With Todd Davis going down with a calf injury, he'll miss at least the next week, which means the onus falls on Johnson to call the defensive signals at practice. 

On Friday, following the Broncos' seventh practice of training camp, head coach Vic Fangio explained why Johnson doesn't have his full trust yet as the defensive play-caller on the field and what he'll have to do to earn it. 

“I can’t say that he has 100 percent of the trust, but he has improved in that area," Fangio said. "He will continue to improve the more we practice, the more we play, the more he understands everything. We’d like him to, but he’s not there yet totally.”

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Fangio's remark goes hand-in-hand with what he said earlier in the week about what Johnson has to do in order to improve. 

"I was pleased with the way he played last year, but he can still improve tremendously," Fangio said. "I think it just comes all with the knowledge and experience and knowhow that comes with playing more. With him pushing himself more to excel at the mental part of the game—he can do the physical things we want him to do. He’s just got to be more efficient and more knowledgeable and react in the plays quicker and better more consistently than he did last year.”

It's a scary notion, really. That Johnson is a work in progress. Because he's already so good. 

The 6-foot-2, 255-pound linebacker posted 93 combined tackles last year in just 12 starts. His 'Raptor' dinosaur dance to celebrate a big play has already endeared him to a fan base that has been thirsty for good off-ball linebacker play. 

Johnson wants to earn Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors this year. Former Broncos' great middle linebacker Al Wilson sees such accolades in Johnson's future. 

But, as Coach Fangio said, Johnson has to master the mental side first. Once he does that, look out, NFL. This will be one linebacker who'll be hard to neutralize on gameday. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHudde.