Former USD quarterback Josh Johnson has earned his keep and will start again for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in next Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fans gathered to watch Johnson make his NFL regular season debut as starting QB, and despite a few mistakes, he did pretty well. But if you ask Johnson, he'll tell you his performance wasn't good enough:
“My day wasn’t good enough, obviously, because we didn’t get a win,” Johnson told media after their 16-13 loss against the Redskins. “I had a turnover; that’s unacceptable. All of us feel like our defense played a great game and gave us a lot of opportunities to win the game. We’ve got to capitalize, we’ve got to get better. We got in the red zone a lot and only had one touchdown. We’ve obviously got to do better there. It’s just a lot of little things. It just shows you what this game is all about – the little things.”
While the Bucs got on the scoreboard early, some things could've been done a little differently, and Johnson would be the first to agree.
“There were maybe four or five throws I wish I could have back, a couple plays I wish I could have back,” said Johnson. “I’ve just got to try to get the guys, the playmakers, the ball more. I know they did a lot from a defensive standpoint to try to take them out of the game but there are ways to get these guys the ball and we all can do better. For me, I’ve got to do better with getting everybody involved in the game.”
But know this: for being a second year quarterback drafted out of USD (his senior year he had 42 touchdown passes and ONE interception), Johnson is smart, quick and talented. It should also be considered that it probably wasn't easy for him to make his NFL debut away from his home turf.
