{"id":369373,"date":"2025-12-24T18:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/369373\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T18:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:47:08","slug":"commanders-qb-josh-johnson-to-make-first-nfl-start-since-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/369373\/","title":{"rendered":"Commanders QB Josh Johnson to make first NFL start since 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

John KeimDec 25, 2025, 05:19 AM<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>John Keim covers the Washington Commanders for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2013 after a stint with the Washington Post. He started covering the team in 1994 for the Journal Newspapers and later for the Washington Examiner. He has authored\/co-authored four books. You can also listen to him on ‘The John Keim Report’, which airs on ESPN Richmond radio.<\/p>\n

The Washington Commanders<\/a> will start Josh Johnson<\/a> at quarterback for their game against the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> on Christmas Day, ruling out Marcus Mariota<\/a> because of a quad injury.<\/p>\n

Johnson will make his 10th career start Thursday and first since Week 9 of the 2021 season when he played for the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>. His lone win as a starter came when he played for Washington in 2018 and was signed late in the season after two other quarterbacks (Alex Smith and Colt McCoy<\/a>) were hurt.<\/p>\n

Washington signed veteran Jeff Driskel<\/a> off the Arizona Cardinals<\/a>‘ practice squad and will make him the No. 2 quarterback Thursday, coach Dan Quinn said Wednesday. Sam Hartman<\/a> will be signed off the practice squad and serve as the emergency third quarterback.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

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Johnson could be without one of his main pass protectors as left tackle Laremy Tunsil<\/a> is “unlikely to play” because of an oblique injury according to Quinn.<\/p>\n

As for Johnson, Quinn said he likes that he has “lots of versatility” and “plenty of experience.” Johnson, 39, has spent time with 14 franchises during his 10-year career. He also has played in the XFL, UFL and AAF.<\/p>\n

Johnson called it a unique experience, “but it’s one I don’t take for granted.”<\/p>\n

However, he said, “It’s a stressful journey, not one I would wish on anybody. I’m embracing it with gratitude and trying to be a light for this team.”<\/p>\n

Johnson relieved Mariota in the third quarter of last Saturday’s 29-18 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>. Mariota injured his quad and his right hand, which required six stitches during the game. Quinn said Mariota was more bothered by the quad and wasn’t sure if he’d be available to play in the season finale in Week 18.<\/p>\n

Washington led 10-7 when Mariota exited against Philadelphia. Johnson completed 5-of-9 passes for 43 yards and an interception.<\/p>\n

In 2021, playing for the New York Jets<\/a>, Johnson threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-30 loss to the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>. His lone win occurred in Week 15 of the 2018 season for Washington.<\/p>\n

Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said playing for so many teams allows Johnson to be a quick study, though he has been with Washington all season.<\/p>\n

“All those things have allowed him to play with a really calm mind,” Kingsbury said. “He’s a very accurate player and the ball tends to go to the right spot when he is in there.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John KeimDec 25, 2025, 05:19 AM CloseJohn Keim covers the Washington Commanders for ESPN. He joined ESPN in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-369373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}