If you go on Josh Johnson's Wikipedia page and scroll down to his "professional career" section, you'll see that there are 21 subsections with teams from the NFL, UFL, AAF and XFL scattered throughout. One of those teams is the Baltimore Ravens, who signed Johnson in 2016 before releasing him just a handful of months later ahead of the 2016 season.
Now, at a crucial juncture of the 2021 season, he could very well be their starter in Week 16.
According to a number of reports, including that of NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Baltimore placed Tyler Huntley on the COVID-19 list on Saturday in the early afternoon. With Lamar Jackson hobbled to an ankle injury that has prevented him from practicing for two whole weeks, Johnson might be the only viable option.
As Ravens writer Jeff Zrebiec notes, the Ravens will have to add a double-digit amount of players to the roster in order to get to 48 for their matchup with the Bengals, many of which will likely come from practice squad call-ups. They have until 4:00 p.m. to make those moves.
But for now, the focus is on the quarterback position and whether Josh Johnson might somehow be able to lead Baltimore to a key division victory over Cincinnati. The two are currently knotted in first place, both at 8-6, with the Steelers (7-6-1) and the Browns (7-7) both still in the running with three games left to go before the postseason begins.
FiveThirtyEight's current projections give the Bengals the highest playoff odds (58%), with the Ravens (48%) right behind them. The Steelers (17%) and Browns (16%) would need a lot to go in their favor throughout the remaining schedule if either wants to make a late push.
With every game meaning something, this isn't the ideal time for a COVID outbreak to affect such a key position, but the Ravens aren't alone in dealing with this.
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