Sometimes, you never know when it will be the last time you step foot on a football field. That’s what was going through the mind of Washington Commanders quarterback Josh Johnson during Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, whether he would admit it or not.

Johnson is 39. He’s played for 14 NFL franchises, including multiple stints with the same team. Johnson is in his second tenure with Washington. Thursday’s start vs. Dallas was his first since 2021. In fact, it was only Johnson’s 10th career NFL start. Interestingly enough, four of those 10 starts have been with Washington.

Here’s Johnson before Thursday’s Christmas Day start.

Despite a short week, Johnson played well against the Cowboys. The Commanders were without left tackle Laremy Tunsil and right guard Sam Cosmi, and lost center Tyler Biadasz during the game. Yet, Johnson took only two sacks and did not turn the ball over. Overall, he completed 15 of 23 passes for 198 yards. The problem for Johnson and the Commanders is that the defense couldn’t get off the field. Dallas ran 87 offensive plays. Compare that to Washington, which ran only 41. Yet, Johnson had the Commanders within one score in the fourth quarter.

For Johnson, there were no moral victories about how hard he and his teammates competed. He took the loss hard.

“It hurts. It hurts, man,” Johnson said after the game. “Like, because even though it was a short week, we prepared well. The things that were out there that we wanted to get done, and we just had a couple of plays here and there that we left on the field. Like, me knowing myself, it’s going to sit on me for a couple of days. So it hurts. It hurts.”

You feel for Johnson. He gave the Commanders a chance to win. There aren’t many No. 3 quarterbacks who could come in on short notice and play as well as he did. His teammates wanted it for him, too.

Will Johnson get another shot to start for Washington? The Commanders have a few extra days off before beginning preparation for the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles. That should give Marcus Mariota enough time to return. If he doesn’t, Johnson gets one more shot at a win. His only win as a starting quarterback came with Washington in 2018.

Don’t tell Johnson that these late-season games don’t matter.