By Stephen Hawkins
The Associated Press

IRVING, Texas - Keyshawn Johnson doesn't have to ask for the ball in Dallas. The Cowboys will be giving it to him plenty more.

Even after his mistakes.

Going into the last game, Johnson was the only active Dallas receiver who had made an NFL catch. Yet it was his miscues that caused two interceptions, both when Vinny Testaverde threw straight to defenders after Johnson cut routes the wrong way.

The often outspoken receiver's response? Johnson loudly accepted the blame.

"I got caught pressing, trying to get involved, trying to make a play because I've got younger guys playing with me," he said. "Both of them were my fault. ... I'm big enough and strong enough to say I know I made those mistakes."

And he responded on the field with his first two-touchdown game in two years. Both scores came against double coverage, including the game-sealing 38-yarder with 1:54 left when he split Detroit defenders.

With Terry Glenn (foot) done for the season, Quincy Morgan hobbled by a hamstring problem and rookie receivers brought up from the practice squad, Johnson is sure to become even more of a focus in the offense - and for opposing defenders.

The Cowboys play the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday.

Being the focus of defenses is really nothing new for the three-time Pro Bowler, who reunited with coach Bill Parcells and Testaverde in Dallas this season.

"It's been the same way for me my whole career; nothing's changed," Johnson said Wednesday. "I've always been the target guy."

On and off the field.

Johnson was deactivated the final six games last season in Tampa Bay. He didn't get along with Jon Gruden, the coach with whom he won a Super Bowl.

He got his wish and was reunited with Parcells, his coach with the New York Jets from 1997-99. And he got a $20 million, four-year contract with the Cowboys.

Any perceptions people have of Johnson don't bother him. Fans have seen clips of his sideline confrontation with Gruden. They heard reports during a television broadcast last month - though Fox had no video showing it - that he confronted Cowboys assistant coach Sean Payton, which the receiver vehemently denies.

"Me, I go out there, I still make my money, still paid at the highest level at my position," he said. "I still go out there and make plays at the highest level at my position, both catching the ball, running, blocking, decoying ... doing all that."

And that's why he remains one of Parcells' favorite players.

Parcells didn't mind calling Johnson's number again Sunday after the first mistake, when he stopped running to the outside. That is where Testaverde threw it, right to Dre' Bly for a 55-yard touchdown return.

Johnson then got his first TD when he made a catch sandwiched between two defenders and muscled away into the end zone.

But the other Johnson mistake in the closing seconds of the first half came near the goal line. He slid behind a defender, instead of in front, as expected, and Testaverde threw another interception.

Then came the clinching TD, when he ran through two defenders and made the catch in stride.

"You know first of all that I have confidence in the player; he's willing to admit his mistakes," Parcells said. "He plays a lot of different spots that's involved with a lot of stuff mentally, and it's not all perfect all the time. But he's going to be in the fight, which is good."

Johnson leads the Cowboys with 30 catches for 448 yards and four touchdowns. He has extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to all 126 of his career, second only to Marvin Harrison's 130 in a row for Indianapolis.

Receiver Patrick Crayton calls Johnson a competitive leader who demands from himself the same he expects from everybody else.

"We just kind of follow his lead," Crayton said. "He's going to talk, but if you check his play on that field, he backs all that up."

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