Sports: Keyshawn certain fumbles will cease

Keyshawn certain fumbles will cease

By ROGER MILLS, RICK STROUD

TAMPA -- During his days with the Jets, receiver Keyshawn Johnson had hands secure enough to hold a wiggling infant. Through four games this season, nothing had changed.

But late in the game against the Redskins and on the first play against the Vikings, Johnson committed the first two fumbles of his NFL career. Thursday against the Lions, the first pass of the game was jarred from his hands and ruled incomplete.

That, he said Monday, does not indicate a fumbling problem.

"A fumble is a fumble," Johnson said. "When a guy has got the ball and jukes (and fumbles), then that's a fumbling problem. But, when a guy catches the ball and is trying to put it away and a guy strips it, it's not a fumbling problem. A fumbling problem is when a guy has the football and is running with it and has caught it and gets hit, then that's a fumbling problem."

Johnson noted that he entered the season with 321 receptions without a fumble before the two gaffes.

"Both of them were actually good plays," he said. "The one in Washington was more of a tussle, and whenever you tussle, that's going to happen. The one in Minnesota, I just never put the ball away clean. A fumbling problem is when you fumble one out of every 10 catches. ... Then you probably have a problem and need to try to get it fixed."

WORKING IT OUT: After a three-day weekend, the Bucs returned to practice with what they believe is an answer to their recent woes on both sides of the ball. It's time, coach Tony Dungy said, to get back to the basics and scale back the playbook.

"What we've got to do, as we've always stressed, is fundamentals," Dungy said. "Making it a little bit more easy to prepare, maybe cut back some more on what we're doing and make sure we do what we do a little bit better. So, I think it comes down to streamlining offensively, defensively and on special teams."

Dungy said it's not time to push the panic button and said the team knows there is a simple solution, particularly to the offensive problems.

"There are a lot of ways we can move the ball and win, but the thing we've got to do is eliminate turnovers," Dungy said. "We have to throw more efficiently when we throw and we've got to run it better. Maybe the way to run it better is to do less things, have fewer plays and maybe those plays we run we'll execute better."

STAY GROUNDED: Offensive coordinator Les Steckel has put his finger on what happened to quarterback Shaun King on his second interception of the game, snared by linebacker Chris Claiborne on third and 1 at the Bucs 40. King had, he said, not happy feet but hoppy feet.

"Whenever your feet leave the ground, as a quarterback, you have no idea where the ball is going, you have to be grounded," Steckel said. "When he turned and tried to make a quick throw, his feet left the ground, and in so doing the velocity of the ball died off. He had full intention of throwing it to Keyshawn, but when his feet were off the ground the ball died and he threw it to the wrong guy."

QUARLESOME DAY: In his fourth season with the Bucs, starting strongside linebacker Shelton Quarles had played every game until being an 11th-hour scratch for the Lions game with a tender groin. Broken was a streak of 58 games.

"It was tough to sit out," Quarles said. "I wanted to play. That was my first game I missed since coming to the Bucs and I wanted to keep it going, so I was disappointed."

Quarles, who said he hopes to be back for Sunday's contest against the Vikings, said it was even more difficult not being able to contribute considering the Lions' success running.

"We had a few minor breakdowns, and in our system it's going to look like it's big," Quarles said. "It was a big deal but it was a small detail that we just didn't play right. It's definitely correctable."

MOSS UNPLUGGED: The clips of Vikings receiver Randy Moss making the winning catch against the Bills on Sunday may have amazed some fans. But for the Bucs, who have been torched by Moss, nothing he does is surprising.

"Not really; he's really an amazing guy and probably the best weapon in the NFL right now," Dungy said. "He does it week in and week out and does it when they need it most, in the fourth quarter. He's getting open and catching the deep balls. When you see it enough, you start to think it's not a coincidence."