Earlier this season, the trio of NFL games on Christmas Day appeared like a massive gift for football fans. Still, with recent injuries taking out several star quarterbacks and playoff hopes evaporating, a lot has changed.
In addition to the Kansas City Chiefs losing Patrick Mahomes and the Minnesota Vikings losing JJ McCarthy, the Washington Commanders have been playing without their star, Jayden Daniels.
He suffered a season-ending injury in Week 14 after hurting his elbow against the Vikings. Due to previous injuries keeping him sidelined, he only participated in seven of the team’s games this season.
In various games, backup Marcus Mariota stepped in as the team’s starter. However, that will change with Sunday’s game, as head coach Dan Quinn recently revealed that they ruled Mariota out for Thursday’s game due to his hand and quadriceps injuries.
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Johnson, a veteran backup in the NFL, will make his season debut as the Commanders’ starter. He’s been part of the league since 2009, when he spent three seasons in Tampa Bay and played in 26 regular-season games.
Following that, he’s bounced from team to team, with stops including Cleveland, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Houston, Detroit, and New York. Johnson most recently played with the Baltimore Ravens, appearing in six games last season.
Speaking to the media ahead of his team’s game, Washington head coach Dan Quinn said that Jeff Driscoll would be the team’s backup quarterback, with the Commanders also signing Sam Hartman as an emergency third-string QB.
“Next week will play out differently,” Quinn told the media, adding, “So that was what we decided was the best thing this week on a short one.”
He said things would be “open” regarding the quarterback situation for their final game of the season, and that they’d told Hartman that regarding his potential role.
It’s been a rough overall season for the Commanders. In addition to losing Daniels, they also lost running back Austin Ekeler earlier this season. Along with that, the team’s playoff dreams vanished weeks ago, with their current record at 4-11.
They’ll play the Cowboys in an NFC East matchup on Christmas Day, with no real stakes on the line since both teams have been eliminated from the postseason. However, many sports fans will still support their respective teams, with three NFL games and multiple NBA games to watch on the Dec. 25 schedule.
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