Of all the firsts Amir Johnson was eagerly anticipating this season, his first sprained ankle wasn’t among them.

All but guaranteed a significant role for the first time by team president Joe Dumars, Johnson’s third season began with a thud when he stepped on a teammate’s foot on the fourth day of training camp and missed the first seven preseason games.

Johnson returned to practice Monday and, as it turns out, that beat expectations.

“Actually, (strength coach) Arnie (Kander) said it came pretty quick,” Johnson said. “This was a bad ankle sprain and it healed pretty fast. It was my first ankle injury. I didn’t know what to do. But I feel pretty good now.”

Johnson now has one preseason game – the finale on Wednesday against Washington – to make up lost ground and convince coach Flip Saunders he’s worthy of a spot in the frontcourt rotation behind starters Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess. Jason Maxiell is first in line, which means Johnson and Nazr Mohammed – who also returned to practice Monday after missing 10 days since getting kicked in the calf at Cleveland on Oct. 11 – are essentially competing to be the second big man off the bench.

Unless or until one separates himself from the other, it could be a game-by-game pecking order – Mohammed more likely to appear in games against teams with more conventional post players and Johnson called upon against the increasing number of teams that spread the floor.

Johnson, 20, only played one game in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League as his restricted free agency played out. For all the potential that oozes from his pores, he’s starved for the type of structured competition the NBA features.

“You can’t sit on the sideline and look at something and get better,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. “That’s like a hitter becoming a better hitter by watching and not hitting. You can’t do that.”

The good news is Johnson, in a testament to youth, says he doesn’t think he lost anything in the way of timing or conditioning during his 17-day layoff.

“It felt pretty good,” he said. “It was a little stiff, but I’m back hopping and jumping. It was a little bit disappointing, because I’ve been waiting patiently for so long, but it doesn’t bother me now. I’m going to bounce back and do my thing.”

His thing, at least until the playing time he needs round out the rough edges to his game, is using his extreme athleticism at both ends of the floor to change the look and feel of games. At his best, Johnson is going to give the Pistons shot-blocking, rebounding and a knack for steering the ball into the basket in sometimes unconventional ways.

Despite playing less than 200 NBA minutes in two seasons, Johnson stirred up unusual interest as a restricted free agent over the summer based on his smashing 22-game stint in the NBA D-League where he averaged 18.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots while shooting 62 percent. The San Antonio Spurs, among others, made a strong run at him, but Dumars wasn’t about to let a potential star walk away. Now the Pistons are nearly as eager as Johnson to integrate him into their rotation.

Along the maturation trail, they’re probably going to have to live with a few turnovers of exuberance and unnecessary fouls and being in the wrong place on occasion.

“Concepts, playing with guys,” Saunders said. “He had one day in the summer because of his contract situation and he hasn’t had any games here. That’s been the one disappointment, so he’s got a lot of things to catch up on.”

After the Washington finale, the Pistons have eight days until they open the regular season, an interim Saunders will use as another training camp. This time, they hope Johnson stays on his feet and off of his teammates’.