D'Ernest Johnson

CAREER TRANSACTIONS 

D'Ernest Johnson was signed by the New England Patriots to the practice squad on January 13, 2025 ... Originally signed by Cleveland as a rookie free agent (5/16/19) ... Resigned by Cleveland as a restricted free agent (6/6/22) ... Signed by Jacksonville as an unrestricted free agent from Cleveland (3/22/23) ... Signed by Baltimore as an unrestricted free agent from Jacksonville (8/2/25) ... Released by Baltimore (8/26/25) ... Signed by Baltimore to the practice squad (8/27/25) ... Released by Baltimore from the practice squad (9/24/25) ... Signed by Arizona to the practice squad (9/29/25) ... Elevated by Arizona to the active roster from the practice squad (10/18/25) ... Reverted back to the Arizona practice squad (10/20/25) ... Released by Arizona from the practice squad (10/28/25) ... Signed by New England to the practice squad (10/29/25) ... Elevated by New England to the active roster from the practice squad (11/1/25) ... Reverted back to the New England practice squad (11/3/25) ... Elevated by New England to the active roster from the practice squad (11/8/25) ... Reverted back to the New England practice squad (11/10/25) ... Elevated by New England to the active roster from the practice squad (11/13/25) ... Reverted back to the New England practice squad (11/14/25) ... Signed by New England to the 53-man roster (12/13/25) ... Released by New England (1/12/26) ... Elevated by New England to the active roster from the practice squad (1/17/26) ... Reverted back to the New England practice squad (1/19/26) ... Elevated by New England to the active roster from the practice squad (1/24/26) ... Reverted back to the New England practice squad (1/26/26). 

SEASONAL REVIEWS

2025 (7/0, 3/0) 

• Signed by New England to the practice squad on Oct. 29 after being released by Arizona from the practice squad on Oct. 28. 
• Elevated to the active roster from the practice squad for the game vs. Atlanta (11/2), making his Patriots debut. He lined up at kick returner. 
• Elevated to the active roster from the practice squad for the second straight week at Tampa Bay (11/9) and saw his first action on offense, entering the game at running back in the second quarter. 
• Elevated to the active roster from the practice squad for the third straight week vs. the New York Jets (11/13), recording 3 carries for 6 yards (2.0 avg.). 
• Signed to the 53-man roster from the practice squad on Dec. 13. 
• Played in his 100th career game vs. Buffalo (12/14), lining up for kick returns.
• Rushed 4 times for 5 yards at the N.Y. Jets (12/28) after seeing time late once the game was in hand. He also returned 3 kickoffs for 77 yards (25.7 avg.). 
• Logged 5 rushes for 13 yards vs. Miami (1/4/26) in the fourth quarter when the score was 38-10. 
• Saw action in the Wild Card Round vs. the L.A. Chargers (1/11/26). 
• Released by New England on Jan. 12 and re-signed to the practice squad on Jan. 13. 
• Elevated to the active roster from the practice squad in the Divisional Round vs. Houston (1/18/26). 
• Elevated to the active roster from the practice squad in the AFC Championship Game at Denver (1/25/26).

2025 (1/0 - ARIZONA) 

• Signed by Arizona to the practice squad on Sept. 29 after being released by Baltimore from the practice squad on Sept. 24. 
• Elevated to the active roster from the practice squad vs. Green Bay (10/19) and had one rushing attempt at the end of the first half.

2024 (14/1 - JACKSONVILLE) 

• Played in 14 games with one start and finished with 32 rushing attempts for 143 yards along with 12 receptions for 96 yards. 
• Signed by Jacksonville as an unrestricted free agent from Cleveland on March 22. 
• Had 1 assisted special teams tackle vs. Cleveland (9/15).  
• Made his first start as a Jaguar vs. New England (10/20) and finished with 9 rushing attempts for 38 yards and 3 receptions for 32 yards. 
• Inactive vs. Houston (12/1), at Tennessee (12/8) and vs. the N.Y. Jets (12/15).

2023 (17/0 - JACKSONVILLE) 

• Played in all 17 games as a reserve running back and finished with 41 rushing attempts for 108 yards, along with 10 receptions for 140 yards. Also contributed on special teams. 
• Had a career-long reception of 42 yards at Houston (11/26) in the second quarter on a drive that finished with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by QB Trevor Lawrence.

2022 (15/0 - CLEVELAND) 

• Played in 15 games as a reserve running back and finished with 4 rushing attempts for 17 yards and 3 receptions for 7 yards. Added 6 special teams tackles and one kick return for 27 yards. 
• Inactive at Carolina (9/11) and vs. the N.Y. Jets (9/18). 
• Returned a kickoff for 27 yards in the second quarter at Baltimore (10/23).

2021 (17/2 - CLEVELAND)  

• Played in 17 games with 2 starts and had 100 carries for 534 yards and 3 touchdowns along with 19 receptions for 137 yards. Added 1 assisted special teams tackle and 6 kickoff returns for 139 yards. 
• Had two games with over 100 rushing yards: vs. Denver (10/21) and vs. Cincinnati (1/9). 
• In his first career start, had a career high 146 rushing yards on 22 attempts vs. Denver (10/21) and scored his first NFL touchdown on a 4-yard run in the first quarter. Added 2 receptions for 22 yards. 
• Had a touchdown in back-to-back games when he followed his first touchdown vs. Denver (10/21) with a score on a 10-yard run in the third quarter vs. Pittsburgh (10/31). 
• Had a career long rush of 30 yards at Green Bay (12/25) in the fourth quarter to set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from QB Baker Mayfield to WR Anthony Schwartz. 
• Rushed for 123 yards on 25 attempts vs. Cincinnati (1/9) and scored a touchdown on a 4-yard run in the second quarter.

2020 (16/0, 2/0 - CLEVELAND) 

• Played in all 16 games as a reserve running back and rushed for 166 yards on 33 attempts along with 3 receptions for 14 yards. Added 14 kickoff returns for 351 yards and 3 punt returns for 13 yards. 
• Appeared in the Wild Card Round at Pittsburgh (1/10) and had 3 kickoff returns for 83 yards and a career high 3 special teams tackles. 
• Saw action in the Divisional Round at Kansas City (1/17) and had 2 kickoff returns for 37 yards and 1 special teams tackle.

2019 (16/0 - CLEVELAND) 

• Played in all 16 games as a reserve running back and rushed for 21 yards on 4 attempts and had 6 receptions for 71 yards. Added 7 special teams tackles, 2 punt returns for 9 yards and 5 kickoff returns for 129 yards. 
• Made his NFL debut vs. Tennessee (9/8) and had his first career kickoff return for 23 yards. 
• Had his career-long kickoff return of 47 yards at Cincinnati (12/29) in the first quarter.

COLLEGE 

• At South Florida, appeared in 50 games and rushed for 1,976 yards on 421 carries with 16 touchdowns. Caught 73 passes for 909 yards and 12 touchdowns. 
• Returned 28 punts for 289 yards and returned 49 kickoffs for 1,192 yards. 
• Finished as USF's career leader in all-purpose yards (4,186 yards), receptions by a running back (73), and receiving yards by a running back (909).

  PERSONAL

• Before being signed as a rookie free agent in 2019, spent six weeks working on a fishing boat in Key West. 
• Worked as a personal trainer in Gainesville, Fla.