Keyshawn Gets His Big Chance, Delivers In Win The Tampa Tribune, published 16 December 2002 Wheels don't come any squeakier than Keyshawn Johnson, who proved Sunday that a team still can ride him if it gives him the grease he craves. Four days after suggesting he was unhappy with the number of passes he was being thrown and saying he would reassess his future with the team at season's end, Johnson caught six passes and played an integral part in the Bucs' 23-20 victory against the Lions at Ford Field. ``Any time you sense your offense is struggling, you want to be involved and to be given an opportunity,'' said Johnson, who stood wearing a Jon Gruden-length fur coat. ``Whether it's one or two or three balls you want to give 'em a look. And Coach Gruden said to me before the game today, `Give us the juice you can.' I took that into the game and I delivered for the most part.'' Never did Johnson deliver more than early in the fourth quarter, when he jumped high over two defenders to make a catch at the Lions 20 that set up the touchdown that put the Bucs ahead, 20-13. More remarkable than the catch itself, though, was the fact he held on to the ball. While making the grab 30 yards downfield, Johnson was hit in the groin on an Eric Davis tackle that temporarily knocked him out of the game. ``If I know I'm going to get hit I can still hold on to the ball,'' Johnson said. ``If I tried to run through it and not be aware of the secondary, then chances are I wouldn't have caught it.'' Brad Johnson, under extreme defensive pressure throughout, said it was his fault Keyshawn had to make such a miraculous catch. ``I didn't get as much zip as I would have liked to on that ball,'' he said. ``It kind of floated on me a little bit and [Keyshawn] did a great job as far as catching the ball with two defenders all over him.'' The reception came on one of 12 balls thrown to Johnson, who had been getting about half that many in previous games. His inability to get open consistently and to catch some of the balls that were thrown to him led to the decrease in activity. But that decrease also led to an increase in frustration. After averaging three catches per game over the previous three games, Johnson said last week that he would reassess his future with the team. After Sunday's game, though, he was singing a different tune. ``To be honest with you, I don't see what the problem was,'' he said. ``It was more media hype than anything. It's not that big of a deal. Everybody assesses their position at the end of the year. Everyone gets evaluated - the coaches, the players the owners.'' Johnson's comments seemed to contradict his earlier statements. However, there's no contradicting the fact that Johnson likes to be heavily involved in the offense. ``I just like to get the opportunities,'' Johnson said. ``I'm a competitor and I don't like to feel that I'm not being utilized. That's my whole purpose, and I know my team is counting on me at all times to make plays so when they give me the opportunity, I just try to deliver. You're not going to make every play that everybody thinks you're going to make or should make. But I do make the majority of them.''