Johnson, a fifth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008, has rarely had the opportunity to start in an NFL game. It’s only happened nine times in 48 appearances, the most recent coming during his brief stint with the Baltimore Ravens four years ago. But Johnson has a reputation for being able to quickly grasp offensive schemes because of how much he’s been exposed to in his career, which was part of the Commanders’ reasoning behind signing Johnson in the offseason.
Johnson has a firm grasp of the offense the Commanders want to run, but it still requires extra work for him to be the starter. He’s spent the last two days working with receivers and getting extra throws, mostly because he hasn’t worked with them all season.
“This week is…getting more time on task with the guys and just walking through things and talking through things,” Johnson said. “Just trying to get on the same page.”
Johson called it “a sleepless” experience.
“I’ve been here every game to understand this is what we want to do, this is not what we want to do,” Johnson said. “The only thing that I haven’t gotten is just really the repetitions with the guys … Now it’s just going out there and physically going to do it.”
The Commanders play a game on Thursday, though, and although the extra reps should help, it doesn’t change the fact that Johnson has a short timeframe to prepare for the Cowboys, assuming he is named the starter. The Commanders are hoping Johnson can lean in on his previous experience; offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said “there’s not a situation as a quarterback that he hasn’t been in,” which has made him “unflappable.”
“When you’re coaching him and you’re talking through different concepts, he has thoughts on it,” Kingsbury said. “He’s been in it before. It may have been called eight different names and different systems he’s played in, but he’s probably repped it in a game at a time or two.”