Lions QB Matthew Stafford: Life without Calvin Johnson will be different

2:24 PM ET

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — When Matthew Stafford was throwing the ball to Calvin Johnson during Week 17 against the Chicago Bears last season, the Detroit Lions quarterback thought it might be Johnson’s final game.

Stafford just didn’t know for sure.

“I thought it had a chance to be,” Stafford said Tuesday on the second day of Lions offseason workouts. “But I wasn’t 100 percent positive. I’m glad he had a sweet game.”

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter will have to figure out what Detroit’s offense looks like without Calvin Johnson this season. AP Photo/Matt Dunham

Johnson had one of his best games of the 2015 season against the Bears in Chicago, catching 10 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown. Stafford said there was not a concerted effort to get Johnson the ball often during what turned out to be Johnson’s final game — like the Lakers did with Kobe Bryant in his finale last week — but that it often came more naturally because Johnson was the No. 1 option in many plays anyway.

The fact that Chicago left Johnson in coverage to have a bunch of catches and pick up a bunch of yards ended up being a bonus. So forcing the ball to Johnson was not a necessity in the finale.

Johnson officially retired in March, leaving Stafford without his top receiving target for the first time in his career. Stafford said he doesn’t know how long the post-Johnson adjustment period might end up being, but it is just one of the changes the Lions are going to make under offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter.

Cooter was …

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