It's been seven years since Josh Johnson last started for the Washington Commanders. For Johnson, whose professional career has spanned 18 years across 14 different teams, it doesn't feel like it was that long ago.

"My kids are the only reason I feel like it was seven years ago," Johnson said at his locker after Monday's practice with reporters crowded around him. "One was just being born, and the other was a lot younger. But you know, it goes by fast."

Johnson knows who he is as a player by now. He's aware that anytime he's gotten an opportunity to play, it normally means that something happened to the starter. It feels like a loaded statement in this case, because a lot has happened for Johnson to have a shot at starting the Commanders' Christmas game against the Dallas Cowboys. Jayden Daniels was shut down for the final three games following multiple injuries, and backup Marcus Mariota cut his throwing hand in the second half of Washington's 29-18 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Commanders have yet to name a starter for Thursday's game against the Cowboys, but Johnson has gotten "the lion's share" of the reps, as head coach Dan Quinn put it, and is preparing to start in his first game since 2021. Like every other moment in his career, Johnson wants to make sure he's prepared for whatever happens this week.

"I'm embracing it with gratitude and just trying to be a light for this team and show them that I'm gonna be on my job to do what I gotta do to give us a chance," Johnson said.

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."

Johnson's last start with Washington in 2018 came under similar circumstances. Following Alex Smith's life-threatening leg injury, both Colt McCoy and Mark Sanchez were tapped to replace him. He signed with the team on Dec. 5 of that year and appeared in a game four days later when Sanchez was benched against the New York Giants. Johnson was announced as the starter the next week and led Washington to a 16-13 victory over Jacksonville Jaguars.

Johnson is used to stepping up in moments like that and in what's currently unfolding with the Commanders. They haven't happened often, and Johnson has learned to appreciate the opportunities to prove himself, no matter how they come.

"It's been a unique experience, but it's been one that I don't take for granted," Johnson said. "I'm appreciative of every moment, every journey, every step, whether it be good, whether it be something bad ... I've just been working hard for these moments here, looking forward to it."

And since he doesn't know when the next chance will come, he doesn't intend to waste the one in front of him.

"You can't go talk about what you're going to do in my position. You just got to really work for the moments. And when they show up, you got to go out there and show it."