AP

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Brad Johnson at Valley Ranch Monday.

Don't except Brad Johnson to change too much with his new responsibilities.

Johnson is now the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, at least for a couple weeks. Tony Romo was injured on the first play of overtime in Sunday's 30-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

"Obviously, it's unfortunate for Tony," Johnson said. "He means a lot to this team."

The low-key Johnson has been through this before. As a backup in Minnesota he replaced Warren Moon in 1996 and Dante Culpepper a decade later.

"I'm excited about the opportunity," Johnson said.

In between the two stints as a backup for the Vikings, Johnson led Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl win in 2002.

Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips says he is comfortable with Johnson leading the team.

"His demeanor, how he works all the time," Phillips said. He's always trying to throw the ball well, do things well in practice."

Johnson says the focus of this job will be managing the huddle.

"We're going to run 90 percent of the same plays," he said. "Just go out and play like I've always played and be the person that I am. They don't need to rally around me, we just need to rally around each other."

The 40-year-old, 17-year veteran says he saw Romo's pinky finger injury and started to warm up in Arizona, but three plays later the Cowboys punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown.

"There's a little bit of shock value that goes in to it," Johnson said. "The shock value gets over pretty quick."

When asked about his often-criticized lack of arm strength, Johnson joked it's something he's faced since high school.

"I said it when I was 28 and when I was 34, the game hasn't changed for me," Johnson said.

He has passed for 28,627 yards, 164 touchdowns and 117 interceptions, but he has also been sacked 243 times in 122 starts.

Now Johnson's job is to start his first game since 2006 and do it as the Cowboys (4-2) have struggled the past three games, losing two. The Cowboys play at the St. Louis Rams Sunday. They recorded their first win of the season at the Washington Redskins this week.

"We need to find a way to get our fifth win and just keep on marching," he said.

"Sitting on a rock, rocking on go."