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TEMPE, Ariz. -- David Johnson overthinks everything. When he is hanging out with his 21-month-old son at home, he's overthinking how to be a father. When his wife, Meghan, corrects him on how to do certain things with his son, he's overthinking how to make his son stop crying. When he is playing video games, he's just simply overthinking. And that penchant for putting in too much thought doesn't stop when he pulls out of the driveway. The Arizona Cardinals' star running back carries it onto the field, both at practice and during games. It's something that has come into focus more this season as his struggles -- and those of the Cardinals -- have been magnified. And Johnson isn't letting himself off the hook. "I'm not doing my part when my number's called, my name's called," Johnson said. "They expect me to do something and I don't do it right or do it at all." Johnson sees a mistake on every one of his plays, which is not atypical for a great player, Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. He pointed out that the likes of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps are extremely self-critical. Fitzgerald said he also finds the mistakes in his own plays, even if he has made a catch or scored a touchdown. "It's human nature when you really are passionate about what you do. You care about it, you want it to be the best every single time you do it," Fitzgerald said of Johnson. "That's how he's wired."  Johnson is hard on himself, but it hasn't affected his play in a negative way. In fact, he said it's the opposite.
"I think it helps me out because when I know what I'm doing and I know I messed up, I'm trying to improve on it because it helps me out because next time it shouldn't happen," Johnson said. After Sunday's home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Johnson, looking distraught, said he was "very disappointed" in himself and pointed out that he made a wrong read on a crucial third-down play late in the fourth quarter. One week prior, he talked about missing two assignments while picking up blitzes, which coach Steve Wilks said is Johnson's top liability right now. "David is a perfectionist," Wilks said. "He wants to do it right every time. He had some things that he wishes he could take back, but he did some things well out there. When you have players like that that aren't really concerned about the great plays but are trying to make sure that they make the corrections on the ones they messed up, that's when you're going to see a difference in your team. "I'm excited that he's expressing that, and I know that he's going to make the corrections." Four games into the season, Johnson feels his self-evaluation has been warranted: He "definitely" doesn't think he's playing well, and he's seeing some of the same mistakes he has always made. Why? "I don't know," Johnson said. "I guess coach said I overthink a little bit sometimes, especially when I'm involved in a play. Thinking too much. Trying to do too much sometimes. I think that's probably what it is." Johnson strives to play the perfect game, Arizona offensive coordinator Mike McCoy said, adding that it's also inevitable that Johnson will have missteps. But sometimes Johnson goes too far with his self-criticism, McCoy said, and that his mistakes aren't as bad as Johnson thinks they are. Still, Johnson hasn't put up the numbers that many expected he would after an All-Pro season in 2016, his last healthy year. He suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 1 last year. Through four games this season, Johnson has caught 13 passes for 104 yards, less than half the yards he had in 2016, when he had 14 catches for 210 yards a quarter of the way through that season. Johnson also has rushed for only 187 yards on 56 carries in four games this season. Two years ago at this point, he had 300 rushing yards on 64 carries. Which leads to more overthinking, something Johnson doesn't know how to stop doing. Which leads to a continuous pattern of self-doubt, self-criticism and corrections. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. "It's hard for me," Johnson said. "I overthink a lot. After a game, I'm up all night. Just thinking about the plays that I mess up on. Even in practice, when I have a mental error, I'm thinking [about] that throughout the whole practice, after practice. I tend to do that a lot. "Talking to a lot of these veteran guys, they always tell me it's not as bad and it's not as good as you always think. [Tight end Jermaine Gresham is] always telling me, 'Move on to the next play,' because when you dwell on the last play, it usually ends up hindering future plays."
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