Rob Johnson might get his turn

Rob Johnson could be next in line to start if Brad Johnson is not ready.

By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 25, 2002

[Times photo: James Borchuck] Rob Johnson won his only start this season -- against the Carolina Panthers.

TAMPA -- The Bucs could finish the regular season with their third starting quarterback in three games.

Brad Johnson is not expected to practice today because of a lower back contusion, leaving coach Jon Gruden contemplating another change under center for Sunday night's game against the Bears at Champaign, Ill.

After his performance in the Bucs' 17-7 loss to the Steelers on Monday night, Shaun King likely won't start if Johnson is not ready. Making his first start in nearly two years, King completed just 9 of 26 passes for 73 yards and had an interception returned for a touchdown.

Rob Johnson, who won his only start this season against Carolina, is expected to be Gruden's choice to play against the Bears. Johnson relieved King in the third quarter and led the team on its only scoring drive, hitting Keyshawn Johnson for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:14 to play.

"I'm going to think about it further today," Gruden said Tuesday. "In fairness to Shaun, I said it before the game, he has been inactive for a long time. He has not played (significantly) in a game since the Houston Texans the last preseason game. He played limited last year, in the last game of the year, against the Eagles, only 36 plays.

"To go out there and win against a defense of that style is very difficult. I'm not down on him. I am disappointed in the way it turned out. We like Rob, we like Shaun and we will start whoever we feel gives us the best chance to win."

Gruden said his decision will be based on the performance of both players in Monday night's game, as well as his belief that Rob Johnson is better prepared to adjust to the speed of a regular-season game.

"(Monday's) performance is big, honestly," Gruden said. "My gut feeling ... it's tough. You have your starting quarterback who takes 85 percent of the reps during the week for 15 weeks and goes down, you're talking about a guy who's a little bit rusty coming in there and playing. I'll use my best professional judgment with the help of our coaches and we'll do what we feel gives our team the best chance. It's not going to be an easy decision, but we feel we'll come to a conclusion here shortly.

"(Rob Johnson) might be more acclimated to game speed. We blitzed a lot on the practice field trying to simulate as much game-like speed as possible, but when it's all said and done and you go out there and play the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game that they have to have and you're getting their A game, their best shot, the speed is going to take you a little while to get accustomed to. I think that shocked Shaun a little bit, early particularly, and that will have some impact on the decision that we make."

Not that Rob Johnson played flawlessly. Though he was 12-of-18 for 159 yards and a touchdown, he also was sacked five times and lost a fumble. His first drive was a typically mixed bag: He passed for 99 yards but failed to get the Bucs on the board because of sacks and the turnover.

Gruden explained his decision to yank King.

"We were down 17-0 and Shaun missed some throws that he has to make, he knows he has to make, and I think a couple looks he missed that he needs to see," Gruden said. "Just to change the style, to give us a fresh look, I thought it was appropriate to go with Rob. I thought Rob handled himself pretty good and conducted a couple of nice drives."

The scary thing for Gruden and the Bucs is not having any way to gauge when Brad Johnson will be ready to return to the lineup.

"Unfortunately for us right now he is limited in terms of his mobility, and until it subsides we won't be able to suit him up," Gruden said. "We have every expert in the world looking at Brad, me included. I'm trying to urge him back into the lineup. But sometimes when you bruise in that area, it takes a while until the pain goes away. Sometimes it's seven days, sometimes it's 17 days and sometimes it's longer than that. Unfortunately it's still limiting him, and to play quarterback in the NFL, as we all know, you have to move around and throw the ball from awkward positions. Right now, that's very difficult for him.

"I can't say I've been through this before. You talk about the teams that will be in the playoffs, or the teams striving to make the playoffs, if you take away their starting quarterback this late in the season, whether it be Brett Favre or Rich Gannon, it's going to affect your team to some degree. But we are not going to make excuses. If we don't turn the ball over twice inside the 5-yard line and throw an interception for a touchdown, we have a chance to win that game."

Though he said he does not know much about Brad Johnson's prognosis, Gruden dispelled reports that the 11-year veteran has a fracture in his spine.

"I heard that," Gruden said. "We have given him an inordinate amount of tests, I'm told. We have a great medical staff here, I believe great, and we would not overlook any injury to any player. We have not found any fracture. They are telling me that all X-rays are negative and that's all the information I have.

"We're going to be confident and hopeful that he can return. At the same time, we are going to be realistic and move on as if he is not going to play and find a way to win without him."

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