Buccaneers' Michael Johnson frustrated by ankle injury

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed defensive end Michael Johnson in the offseason to produce immediately. 

However, Johnson, hampered by an ankle injury, has failed to live up to his five-year, $43.75-million contract thus far. 

Johnson sounded frustrated by his relative lack of production this season when speaking about his injury troubles Wednesday.

"I didn’t come here expecting this," Johnson said to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. "I look back and I missed one game in my five years in Cincinnati - one game and a handful of practices. So, this is very frustrating for me."

Johnson's two sacks came in a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he has performed poorly in the rest of the Buccaneers' games. 

"I’m trying to handle it, trying to stay positive and do my rehab so I’m at least able to contribute a little bit on Sundays," he said. "But it’s hard, because it just lingers. I just have to deal with it and try to stay positive and believe it’s going to get better."

The Buccaneers' staff remains optimistic that Johnson will be able to play at a high level. 

"Michael will probably tell you he’s had one good game," head coach Lovie Smith said. "He hasn’t been 100 percent yet, but I still feel like, once we get him close to that, we’ll see a pretty good football player."

Tampa Bay plays the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.