With Jayden Daniels shut down for the season and Marcus Mariota dealing with hand and quad injuries, the Commanders will call on Josh Johnson to start on Christmas, per The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala.
Johnson, 39, has appeared in three games this year, though he threw his first pass of the season on Saturday night against the Eagles. After Mariota went down on Saturday night, Johnson completed five of his nine passes for 43 yards and an interception to close out the game. He will, undoubtedly, be looking for better results in a full game.
Jeff Driskel, who re-signed with the Commanders on Monday, will back up Johnson, while Sam Hartman will be signed from the practice squad to serve as the emergency third quarterback on game day. (A quarterback elevated from the practice squad cannot be the emergency QB3, so Hartman had to be signed to the active roster to fill that role.)
In theory, Dallas’ bottom-ranked pass defense could be a relatively welcoming matchup for Johnson’s first start since 2021. However, the Commanders’ passing offense has been one of the league’s worst, due in large part to injuries that are still taking their toll. Johnson will be Washington’s third different starting quarterback this year with a short-than-usual week between games, so success is no guarantee.
This is why Dan Quinn is a horrible head coach! Why in God‘s green earth would you start Josh Johnson who has no future with Washington? Why don’t you start Sam Hartman, or even Driskel? I would understand it if they were playing for a playoff spot, but they’re not.
You think Driskel or Hartman have a future with Washington? He is starting the guy who has been on the team and knows the playbook. They season is over. There is no reason to start people who don’t even know the offense they need to run.
Because it’s an unwritten NFL front office rule: “Josh Johnson has to start at least one game every year”
(I honestly don’t know why Josh Johnson keeps getting signed/played either lol, one of the lucky guys on the annual ‘NFL Retread QB Roulette Wheel’)
Dallas wins 34-16
16??…we’ll be lucky to run that many plays…