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Another Sunday, another Fantasy Notebook. ... And this week's edition is designed for those looking for a brief break from the otherwise wall-to-wall coverage of the 2009 NFL Draft.

It's not that I'm ignoring the draft (check the News & Views section of the site for our takes on the first two rounds of this year's selection process). It's just seems like a brief respite would be kind of nice.

Those looking for more will find a Fantasy-specific, position-by-position series on this year's incoming rookie class -- by FootballDiehards.com resident draftnik Joe Hebert -- posted here in the Headline News section in coming days.

So, with all that out of the way, we'll get the ball rolling this week in Tennessee, where Nashville Tennessean staffer Jim Wyatt reports that Chris Johnson is a fast running back who admits he likes fast food. As he looks ahead to his second season with the Titans, however, he knows some of his in-season eating habits might have to change.

Johnson, who until this week was working out in Orlando (much to the chagrin of head coach Jeff Fisher), said he'd liked to play the entire season right around 200 pounds. It's where he started last season, but he slipped to around 194 pounds later in the year and said he lost some of his strength.

"I wasn't eating right sometimes. I just have to take a few more steps to continue to get better," Johnson said. "Instead of eating at McDonald's after practice or something, just have a regular good meal and keep that weight at 200. I plan on doing that."

Meanwhile, Johnson reported to team headquarters on Tuesday, his first day in the off-season program. The second-year man to be indicated earlier this month he planned to work out on his own for a while.

Johnson instead returned to Nashville and worked out with strength and conditioning coach Steve Watterson.

Participation in the team's off-season program is voluntary, but strongly encouraged.

"I've said all along I expected Chris to come back and join the off-season program and he is here," Fisher said. "Everybody else is here and I just assume he now is here and he is going to work."

The Titans began their off-season program on March 16, and until Tuesday Johnson and tight end Bo Scaife were the only two players who hadn't made an appearance. Scaife, the team's franchise player, has been working out on his own in Denver, but he too is expected to begin working out in Nashville next week.

Johnson, who was Tennessee's first round pick last year, is coming off a season when he rushed for 1,228 yards and tied for fifth in the NFL with 1,488 yards from scrimmage.

While Johnson wasn't around for the first month of the off-season program in town, he spent nearly a month after the 2008 season at the facility rehabbing an ankle injury he suffered in the team's playoff loss to Baltimore.

Fisher told Wyatt he didn't get a chance to speak to Johnson on Tuesday, but believes he's in good shape.

"I think he'll realize he is not as far along as everybody is because he hasn't been here," Fisher said. "But he is in good shape and is always going to stay in good shape."

According to Tennessean staffer Gary Estwick, Johnson teamed up this spring with performance coach Tom Shaw, who helped him earn the attention of the Titans before last season's draft. The two men worked together four times a week.

Last season he was named to the Pro Bowl after rushing for 1,228 yards and nine touchdowns.

His goals for 2009?

"I'm planning on having an even better year," Johnson said earlier this month. "I know more about what to expect. ..."

Also on hand for the off-season program -- from Day 1 -- has been LenDale White, who lost his starting job to Johnson last season -- and who wants to regain that role.

Christopher Brantley, who represents White, recently acknowledged that White certainly wants to do well as he enters the final year of his rookie contract, but the agent said White's motivation stems more from wanting to prove his professionalism than anything else.

"Everybody in that final year gears up to put their best foot forward, but whether it's a contract year or not, he's been getting a lot of flack about his weight and his work ethic, and he just wants to set the record straight on all that," Brantley said. "He wants to show that he's a solid professional and a good back in the NFL, and when he's been given the opportunity, he produces."

Watterson previously indicated that White had reported to the off-season workout program more than 20 pounds lighter than when he had done the previous year.

Brantley corroborated that, saying that White's weight at the start of the off-season program was at 238 pounds. That number would mark the best of White's career as a Titan thus far.

As Nashville City Paper staffer Terry McCormick noted, before the 2007 season, White's weight was nearly 270 pounds when he reported for the off-season program.

"Before he went down to work out, he was home back in Denver working out with his uncle who helps him get ready and did so when he was in school [at Southern California]," Brantley said. "There are certain drills and programs that they do to get ready, and he kind of wanted to go home and get back to basics and be really ready to go when the program started."

Two seasons ago, White led the Titans in rushing with 1,110 yards, but with the arrival of Johnson last year, was relegated to a support role. White finished with 773 yards on 200 carries, and had 15 touchdowns, as he filled the role of the Titans' short-yardage back as well.

Brantley added that White will probably open the season with a few more pounds than the current 238, but that it will be different from years past when weight was always an issue.

"He'll probably gain a little bit more. He wants to be durable," Brantley said. "LenDale doesn't mind having a few pounds, just to help him absorb the punishment. But just for the purposes of training, and getting his endurance, it helps for him to be lighter right now.

"The difference this year than in years past is that when he gains the weight, it will be more muscle mass than anything else."

As opposed to past seasons, when it was more donuts than anything else. ...

Also in Tennessee. ... As the fourth season of his NFL career approaches, Vince Young, the third overall pick in the 2006 draft, should be preparing to try to take a talented Titans team to the first NFL title in franchise history.

Instead, he's scheduled to ride the pine.

And as Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio suggested, even more troubling than that might be the fact that he seems to be OK with it.

"I am just going to keep my mouth closed, man," Young told Wyatt in an interview last Sunday night. "All I am doing this year is shutting up, just shutting up and working. I am going to smile and shut up and continue being Vince Young, a happy smiling guy. I am not going to get into the hoopla anymore because of the fact I can't win any more, I see."

He says he's not upset with starter Kerry Collins for taking the job that, a year ago, Young held.

"I don't have nothing against Kerry," Young said (which as Florio further suggests technically means that Young does have something against Collins). "Kerry is just doing his job and that is the same thing I want to do, take care of my job and wait for my turn when they call me."

Until then, he'll just keep smiling -- and getting paid.

"Whatever they want me to do that is what I am going to do," Young said. "If they want me to sit on the sideline and be there to watch the game then that is OK with me, but at the same time I am getting my checks and I am fine."

Those checks will be worth $126,470 each, which constitute 17 installments of a $2.15 million base salary.

But as Florio pointed out, this arrangement can't go on for much longer. Next year, those checks will grow to more than $440,000 each, as part of a $7.5 million base salary.

Florio summed up: "It's about more than the money. It's about a burning desire not only to play, but also to excel. In our view, Young seems to have resigned himself to the fact that he's not going to dominate at the NFL level.

"And so he appears content to coast, which at last check wasn't one of the ingredients for a high-end NFL quarterback. ..."

In Buffalo. ... Fred Jackson and his agent think the Bills should, in effect, put their money where their mouth is in regards to high-character players.

As Buffalo News staffer Mark Gaughan noted, Jackson, the Bills' second-string running back, is without a signed contract and has been dissatisfied with the way negotiations on a long-term deal have gone this spring.

A day after Bills Chief Operating Officer Russ Brandon espoused the importance of strong character in the team's player evaluations, Jackson's agent, Jerry Douglas, released a statement.

"We find the organization's comments regarding the importance of character very interesting given their position on Fred Jackson," said Douglas. "I think it's a fair statement to say that during his three years with the Bills, Fred has demonstrated his high character and that he is second to none in that department, to say nothing of his on-the-field contributions. Yet the organization is not making a concerted effort to lock in Fred as part of the team's long-term future. Public statements are great as long as you mean what you say."

The Bills have seen three of their players arrested this offseason -- Ko Simpson, Marshawn Lynch and Donte Whitner.

Brandon recently re-emphasized how seriously the team's scouts assess character concerns leading up to the NFL draft. He and Tom Modrak, vice president of college scouting, also stressed that the Bills historically have had a good track record for avoiding player-conduct problems.

"It's taken very seriously as an organization," Brandon said. "We always value character. It goes into the overall operation of our draft and everything we do here when we're evaluating a player."

Jackson has only two years tenure in the NFL and is labeled an "exclusive rights free agent." That means the Bills have exclusive negotiating rights to him because of the fact they made a minimum contract offer to him -- one year for $460,000 -- in late February. Jackson cannot negotiate with or sign with any other team. He will play for that minimum offer if he cannot reach a longer-term deal. If no longer deal is reached, the Bills would have Jackson's rights again next offseason, when he would be a restricted free agent.

Jackson has been participating in the team's off-season conditioning workouts since April 6.

Jackson is known for being a strong team-oriented player for the Bills. He also has been very involved in community service and making public appearances for the team.

Jackson proved to be a versatile backup to Lynch last season. Jackson rushed 130 times for 571 yards and caught 37 passes for 317 yards.

As Gaughan pointed out, Denver last month signed a couple of backup runners who did not match Jackson's numbers last season. Correll Buckhalter and J.J. Arrington each agreed to four-year deals with the Broncos for about $10 million apiece. Buckhalter had 76 carries for 369 yards and 26 catches in '08.

Arrington had 31 carries for 187 yards and 29 catches in '08. Both were unrestricted free agents.

Meanwhile, undoubtedly adding to Jackson's irritation, it sounds like newly-signed running back Dominic Rhodes has more than a backup role with the Bills in mind.

In an interview on Sirius NFL Radio, Rhodes said the Bills told him that he could start in the Sept. 14 Monday night opener at New England.

News staffer Allen Wilson suggested that would probably be news to Jackson.

Then again, what else are the Bills going to tell Rhodes? They needed to say something to entice him to join the team.

Buffalo's signing of a backup running back was imperative. With Lynch unavailable until late September, the Bills were down to Jackson and 2008 rookie Xavier Omon on a roster that is undergoing significant changes this offseason. Rhodes will solidify the position after gaining 538 yards rushing, including a team-leading six touchdowns rushing, in 15 games last year with the Colts.

He also added a career-high 45 receptions for 302 yards and three TDs receiving in 2008, and played an instrumental part in Indianapolis' Super Bowl XLI win over the Chicago Bears following the 2006 season. Rhodes rolled for 113 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries in the game.

Whether he starts or not, Wilson believes the Bills are going to count heavily on Rhodes during the early part of the season. How he does in those first three games will determine whether his touches diminish or he steals playing time away from Jackson when Lynch returns.

Rhodes, meanwhile, reiterated his stance on Monday.

"When I get in the game I try to give them a reason not to take me out and a reason to keep putting me back in," Rhodes told Associated Press sports writer John Wawrow. "The first three games is definitely a plus, and anything after that I'll just -- with practicing hard and playing hard -- show them what I can do.

"Hopefully things will still be pretty good from there."

Rhodes comes to Buffalo after spending last year with the Indianapolis Colts, where he split the starting duties with Joseph Addai, and relishes the opportunity to be the main man in Buffalo's backfield early in the season.

"I don't look at myself, ever, in any situation, as a backup," he said. "My mindset is that opportunities are always there, and I compete to start. I don't go anywhere trying to sit on the bench. That's not my thing. ..."

By the way. ... Jackson would probably appreciate the addition of a reminder that Rhodes was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Rhodes signed with a Oakland as a free-agent earlier that year -- after a February DUI arrest. He subsequently pled out of the DUI charge but the arrest led to his suspension. ...

In New York. ... For most teams, the loss of a 1,000-yard running back would trigger a search for someone to replace the player, the production and the hole left behind.

But as New York Post staffer Paul Schwartz suggested this week, the Giants aren't most teams.

After a career-best 1,025 rushing yards, Derrick Ward cashed in on that success, signing a $17 million free agent deal with the Buccaneers.

But his loss isn't viewed as a major issue by team officials. After all, Ward wasn't even a starter for the Giants, who (as the NFL's top rushing team were led by Brandon Jacobs' 1,089 yards) believe they have more than adequate replacements.

Ready to step into the primary backup role is Ahmad Bradshaw, finally free of the legal entanglements that put him in jail for portions of the past two offseasons. On the scene to fill the No. 3 spot is Danny Ware, who could be the surprise player of the season if he gets his opportunity.

"Brandon is Brandon and Bradshaw, obviously, he will get more touches now," general manager Jerry Reese said. "He will start out as No. 2, but he has got to earn the No. 2 spot. Danny Ware is the guy who we think has a lot of potential.

"Obviously, there are good players in the draft as well. So we feel good about our running backs."

Up for grabs are Ward's 307 rushing attempts in 24 games the past two seasons.

Entering his third year with the Giants, Bradshaw in spot duty has averaged 6.1 yards per carry (90-545) and everyone around the team is anxious to see what he does with a heavier workload.

But Schwartz advised readers that Ware is the wild card.

Like Ward, he was plucked off the Jets' practice squad. He led the team in rushing (33-180) in the preseason last summer and this year appears as if he means business. He's trimmed down from 232 to 220 pounds and looks absolutely ripped. He's down to his college weight at Georgia.

"Hopefully, I can work my way in like Ahmad did last year and get even better and get more playing time than that," Ware said. "If they draft a running back, I still feel I have a good chance of playing because it's going to take [the new player] a little while to learn the system. ..."

In (the other) New York. ... Leon Washington is looking for a new contract, just as Thomas Jones is. But, unlike Jones, Washington has been at the Jets' facility since the team's "voluntary" off-season conditioning program began.

"Other guys have different purposes," Washington said late last month. "A lot of guys across the league work out on their own. My thing is I'd rather be with my team and have that relationship throughout the whole year."

Washington, who made it clear several times that he was not criticizing Jones, has one year left on the four-year deal he signed after the Jets drafted him in the fourth round in 2006. He is due to make slightly more than $600,000 this season.

According to New York Newsday staffer Eric Boland, the Jets are in the early stages of contract discussions with Washington's agent, Alvin Keels.

"The Jets traditionally have done the right thing with guys who have played well for the organization, so my standpoint is, I put the work in, and hopefully it pays off for me sooner [rather] than later," Washington said. "We'll see what happens."

Teammates voted Washington as Jets MVP in 2007, but his 2008 was even better. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry in rushing for 448 yards and six TDs. He added 47 receptions, including two TDs, for 355 yards and was an outright terror on kickoffs, averaging 25.6 yards a return.

Washington has been compared to Darren Sproles, designated as the Chargers' franchise player this offseason for about $6.6 million this year, and Bears return specialist / wide receiver Devin Hester. Hester signed a four-year extension last summer worth a reported $40 million, with $15 million guaranteed.

But Washington isn't looking to be compared to either of them or to anyone else. He sees himself, with some statistical backing, as a legitimate triple threat -- a player who can run from scrimmage, catch passes and return kicks.

"I can run between the tackles, you've seen that; I can run outside the tackles, you've seen that," said Washington, who also spoke of the desire to "revolutionize" the game as an all-purpose weapon like Gale Sayers and Dave Meggett.

"Return kicks, return punts, I can catch. If you look at that, my body of work, and if you look at guys across the league and you try to point out how many guys can actually do at a high level. ... My body of work speaks for itself. I don't want to label myself being a specific guy."

Washington is making no ultimatums about his contract, not threatening to sit out any workouts or upcoming OTAs or mini-camps.

Meanwhile, Jones, who remains displeased with his contract in what has become an ongoing theme, didn't attend new coach Rex Ryan's first mini-camp.

As PFT's Aaron Wilson stressed, it was a voluntary mini-camp and the Jets' mandatory session isn't until June.

However, Jones' actions apparently aren't winning him many friends around the league. In fact, New York Daily News staffer Rich Cimini advised readers that a general manager for another NFL team called out Jones.

"He's being very selfish," the anonymous GM told Cimini. "It's crap, what he's doing. ..."

For the record: Jones is due a $900,000 base salary for next season and $2.8 million in 2010 (plus a $3 million roster bonus due before the 2010 season. It would appear Jones believes last season's AFC-leading 1,312-yard (13 touchdowns) effort puts him in line for a better deal. ...

In Houston. ... A back injury kept running back Chris Brown off the field in 2008. Now, with a clean bill of health, he's working hard to put himself in position to bolster the Texans' backfield this season.

Brown signed a two-year contract with the Texans last year as a free agent from the Titans. He then spent the season on the injured reserve list, rehabbing a back injury suffered during the preseason.

After the season, he was cleared by doctors to resume all physical activities.

The 6-3, 220-pound Brown is one of only three running backs currently on the Texans' roster along with starter Steve Slaton (5-8, 201) and seldom-used backup Ryan Moats (5-9, 201).

"He can provide a big back for us," head coach Gary Kubiak said. "Steve's a smaller guy. We need somebody who can do a little more pounding, red zone, short yardage, those types of things. That's easier said than done, but we have that guy here with him if he's healthy.

"So the key is whether or not he can stay healthy."

Nothing new there. ...

In five seasons in Tennessee, Brown averaged 4.3 yards per carry and scored 16 touchdowns. He also battled a litany of injuries and missed at least four games in every season but one (2005).

His best season was in 2004, when he had 1,057 yards and six touchdowns in only 11 games. Brown ran for 462 yards and five touchdowns in 12 games in 2007, his last season with the Titans.

"When he's had his opportunities in this league and he's been healthy, he's been productive," Kubiak said. "For us, it was a little bit of a risk (to sign him), knowing that he had struggled physically, but he's doing everything he can do and we're going to give him an opportunity to come back and help us.

"He fits what we do, and he's very smart. He can help us in pass protection, too."

Indeed, assistant head coach Alex Gibbs' zone blocking scheme is an ideal fit for Brown's one-cut style. A physical runner with breakaway speed, Brown thrived in a similar running system at the University of Colorado and in Tennessee.

All of which might actually mean something if Brown could remain in the locked and upright position beyond training camp. Given his history, I'd suggest tempering your enthusiasm.

Remember: It was just over a year ago that Brown arrived in Houston with high expectations. He didn't miss a day of OTAs or team workouts and was heavily in the mix for playing time with Ahman Green and Slaton, then a rookie expected to compete for third-down duties.

But Brown's back injury prevented him from suiting up for a single regular-season game last season allowing Slaton to emerge as a full-time threat capable of handling a significant workload.

That said, the Texans were still said to be seeking a complement to Slaton -- a bigger back, one who has the ability to spell Slaton but also carry the ball on a consistent basis as needed -- heading into the draft.

According to the Sports Xchange, the successful candidate will ideally get fewer than 10 carries a game, but he will fit well in the zone-blocking system and be able to bully his way for extra yards in short yardage and goal-line situations.

Could the team's failure to land that guy on Day 1 of the draft be an indication they believe Brown can be it? We'll know more when the fun and games in New York wrap up tonight. If they fail to land a replacement, a healthy Brown could provide considerable Fantasy value this fall. ...

And finally this week, from our "Party On!!" file. ... The Chicago Sun-Times reports there has been considerable buzz about Internet pictures that have tracked Jay Cutler partying around his new town in the last few weeks.

He has Type 1 diabetes, which makes his nightlife a concern for a franchise that that's made a significant investment in him.

"When we did our research, we know he goes out, we know he does those things," GM Jerry Angelo said. "We talked to our medical people; we talked to the Denver medical people. It comes with the territory. We're comfortable with it. I really can't answer it beyond that."

Because of the price paid to acquire him (the Bears shipped Denver their first- and third-round picks as well as a first-round pick in 2010 and a fifth-rounder this year in addition to Kyle Orton), Cutler is somebody the Bears want to monitor -- but only to a degree.

"I'm not going to micro-manage a person," the GM said. "If we have to do that, that's not a good sign. ..." Making this story somewhat more interesting are reports that emanated from Denver last month suggesting Cutler's "alcohol consumption and football smarts" were issues for Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels.

But they aren't for Angelo, so Cutler should apparently drink up! The party is officially on. ...

That's it for this week's Notebook. I'll check in again next Sunday. ... In the meantime, keep an eye on the News & Views section of this site for late-breaking news and other tidbits of interest. Watch the Headline News section for more in-depth reviews of current events -- including the Fantasy Notebook.