Brad Overcomes Eye Injury The Tampa Tribune, published 25 November 2002 When Brad Johnson turned to hand the ball off to running back Michael Pittman on the Bucs' third play from scrimmage Sunday, he had to decide which Pittman to hand it to. ``I saw two of those guys running,'' Johnson said. On the play before, Johnson developed a case of double vision after being poked in the right eye by Green Bay defensive end Vonnie Holliday. As soon as Johnson got the ball to Pittman, he pointed to backup Rob Johnson to come into the game. Rob Johnson led the Bucs' offense for the rest of the first quarter until Brad's vision returned to normal, forcing him to miss two series. He didn't miss a beat when he returned, putting on the kind of efficient performance Bucs fans have come to expect. Johnson finished 15 of 25 for 134 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, stealing the spotlight from Packers quarterback Brett Favre in the Bucs' 21-7 win. At one point, he put on a rare display of emotion when he did a pelvic thrust dance on the field after hitting Keyshawn Johnson for a 2-point conversion to put the Bucs ahead 14-7 in the third quarter. ``It's called the Crane,'' he said, declining to elaborate. His coach had no problems singing Johnson's praise. ``I can't say enough about Brad Johnson,'' Jon Gruden said. ``This is one tough dude back there in the pocket. I don't care what anybody says, he's in uncharted waters now with cracked ribs and double vision and coming out and playing like he is.'' Since missing the Oct. 27 game at Carolina because of cracked ribs, Johnson has put to rest the quarterback controversy that existed earlier in the season. In the past three games, all victories, Johnson has thrown nine touchdowns and no interceptions. ``He's our starting quarterback,'' Bucs defensive end Warren Sapp said. ``He's our commander-in-chief and we're rolling right now. [No.] 14 is going to do it for us. If you give him time, he's going to find the right dude, get us in the right play and do whatever's necessary. You could just see us pick up once he goes back in the ballgame. No knock against Rob, but Rob's not the quarterback Brad is.'' Johnson said the rib injury is no longer a concern and that once his vision cleared up Sunday, he had no problem finding the right receivers. For now, Johnson's tunnel vision won't allow him to look ahead to the playoffs and what may lie ahead. ``I could care less about that right now,'' he said. ``The biggest thing for me is to go out there, be prepared, give our team a chance to win, play hard, and for the most part, clock management. I feel like I'm playing good football.''